“The role of the school nurse will be expanded and developed to help build pupil health expertise within schools and provide individual children, young people and families with access to individual support and advice to prevent obesity and promote healthier eating” (Department of Health, 2005c, p.15) However, the emphasis on a broad public health role coupled with considerable health protection responsibilities results in the school nurse being faced with a role of potentially immense proportions. Figure one provides a model of the levels of public health work that the school nurse role is expected to encompass. The apparent breadth of the school nursing remit, as envisioned by current UK policy, allows for a richness and flexibility to the provision that is likely to be required for an effective response to child health needs. Moreover, the school nurse is the only professional concerned with children’s wellbeing that traverses all the environments of the child i.e. the home, the school and the wider community as well as connecting with the multi-sectoral nature of the service provision for young people. School nurses are also the nursing professional with responsibility for addressing the needs of children over most years of childhood, providing an opportunity to develop an in-depth knowledge of individual and family needs over time. Additionally as members of the nursing profession, school nurses have the expertise to provide comprehensive responses to complex health needs as they combine clinical knowledge relating to the school age population with an understanding of the connection between the social determinants of health and delivery of effective health promotion.