Put eye tests on your school holiday checklist

Post on 18th July 2016

It’s fair to say that for many children the long summer break is a highlight of the school year!

At that age who could blame them; it’s a carefree time to spend with family and friends, enjoying the great outdoors hopefully and with thoughts of homework and tests put to one side.

For parents it also means organising childcare and finding ways to keep them entertained as well as spending quality time with their children and joining in their fun.

It is also an opportunity to catch up on other activities before the back-to-school hectic runaround takes over. So how about putting eye tests for the children on the ‘to do’ list too?

Scrivens Opticians & Hearing Care recommends that parents get their children’s eyes tested every two years. Now is as good a time as any to book a sight test.

Many vision problems have their beginnings in childhood, when they’re much easier to correct. The first eight years of a child’s life are critical for eye and vision development, when particular problems can only by corrected if treatment starts at a young age.

Eye tests for children are free of charge as are prescription glasses if required.

Scrivens optometrist Paul Sidhu said: “There are common problems in childhood, such as squints or lazy eyes, which if not picked up during this time, can be permanent. Also undetected vision loss can have a huge impact on a child’s learning, which can have lifelong ramifications.

“Being able to see properly is vital to a child’s learning and undiagnosed sight problems can be detrimental to a child’s achievement, behaviour and enjoyment of school. Even though most children get a basic check of their eyes in reception years at school, this doesn’t always check everything that’s covered in a full eye examination at an opticians.”

To find your nearest Scrivens branch to seek further advice or book a sight test for your children visit our homepage.