The start of a new school term is an exciting and daunting one for parents and children alike. A right of passage, it heralds the start of new friendships groups and new experiences. But as well as the new books, friends and uniforms that you’ll be seeing this September, it will also be the first time your child will be in contact with a whole host of other things you can’t see – new germs.

It’s traditional that children bring home colds and infections from school or nursery at the start of a new term and as experts in hygiene services, Albany Healthy Schools has produced this guide to help parents influence they way their children approach their own personal hygiene when they’re mixing with all their new friends.

Hand Cleaning:

Hand cleaning is the single most important factor in helping stop the spread of infection. Children should be encouraged to wash and dry their hands before eating, after using the toilet, if they are ill and after handling animals – including the classroom hamster!

When a child is ready to go to school or nursery, they are expected to be able to use the toilet themselves and being taught to wash and dry their hands is a vital part of this process.

Fungal Infections: Athlete’s foot and ringworm are common childhood ailments and are also less likely to spread if your child has learnt to clean their hands properly. Making sure children wash between the fingers, under the nails and even using a nailbrush - especially after playing outside or with craft materials or cooking ingredients - is a tough one to drill into small heads, but a really important one. Drying properly – between toes and fingers - is also important to prevent any existing fungal infections from becoming worse. Making sure children use their own towels after swimming practice or showering after PE is vital to make sure they don’t unwittingly spread infections.

Nails: Nail biting should be discouraged, particularly if the nails are being swallowed. There are plenty of bad tasting coatings that can be applied to nails to help stop determined nibblers!

Nails and nail beds offer a perfect breeding environment for germs. Biting these nails then transfers these bugs to the mouth which then end up in the digestive tract and children can become quite ill quickly from the dehydration and electrolyte imbalance caused by diarrhoea.

Even if your child remembers to clean their hands, there will always be germs under and around the nail, so the best defence is to help your child keep their nails short.

Food Hygiene: Encourage your children to wash and dry their hands before and after meals and snacks and reward them for not eating off the floor; this is especially important as they start taking meals in high footfall areas such as classrooms and dining halls or outside in the playground.

Making sure your children are comfortable using cutlery before they go to school, or packing a travel fork into their packed lunch box, will also discourage them from eating with their hands.

Dealing with the inevitable coughs and colds:

Unfortunately, it is inevitable that children will catch common ailments when they’re at school – and pass them on to mum and dad! It’s also true that they will be at their most infectious to others when they are in the early stages of any illness, so teaching them how to cope when they’re starting to feel unwell will help them contain any viruses.

Teach your children how to blow and wipe their noses with tissues or a hanky, pack fun and brightly coloured handy packs of tissues in their school bag. The old adage "coughs and sneezes spread diseases" is a fun rhyme to teach kids and if it’s a challenge getting them to remember to use a hanky rather than the ubiquitous sleeve, introduce a reward each time they remember.

A new term is always a time of change and excitement and hopefully with this basic guide from Albany Healthy Schools, it will help your children enjoy all the adventures of a new school term with a clean bill of health.