Market Deeping parents urged to check the one back to school essential that’s free
“We see it every September – children starting the new term struggling to keep up, and it turns out nobody had thought to check their eyes”
A local optician in Market Deeping is encouraging parents to make sure their children ‘see their best school year yet’ by adding a free eye test to their back to school ‘to do’ list.
The plea comes from Scrivens Opticians & Hearing Care in The Precinct, as rates of childhood myopia (short sightedness) are increasing¹, and an estimated 1.6 million school-aged children in England are thought to be living with an undiagnosed vision problem that can affect their ability to learn and develop². The earlier myopia is diagnosed, the more effectively its progression can be managed and slowed – making regular eye tests throughout childhood particularly important.
Yet, Scrivens’ customer research found an eye test (22%) ranked bottom of parents’ back-to-school priority list, behind even arranging a haircut (36%)³, with many parents unaware that NHS eye tests – and support towards the cost of glasses – are free for children.
Branch manager, Jeanette Green, said: “We see it every September – children starting the new term struggling to keep up, and it turns out nobody had thought to check their eyes. It’s such a simple thing to rule out, and it costs parents nothing. Over the summer, if you notice your child sitting closer to the TV than usual, or complaining of headaches after reading, it’s always worth popping in. We’d rather see a child for a test that comes back fine than have them start the year unable to see the board properly.”
To help children who have never been to the opticians before feel confident and know exactly what to expect, Scrivens has created an animated comic strip that brings an eye test to life in a fun, simple way. It's available at scrivens.com/backtoschool.
Top signs your child might need an eye test:
Sitting close to the TV or holding books close to their face
Complaining of headaches
Regularly rubbing their eyes
Struggling to concentrate when reading
Squinting, or one eye turning in or out
Scrivens Opticians & Hearing Care is a family run business that was established over 85 years ago in 1938. It has 166 high-street branches in towns and cities across England and Wales, with 1,000 employees. For more information, visit www.scrivens.com.