Medical Matters

Illness & Accidents

If children become unwell or have an accident needing professional medical attention at school you will be contacted directly. It is therefore important that contact telephone numbers are kept up to date and we are informed of any changes. (Changes can be made at the school office.)
If, in the judgement of the school, a child requires hospital treatment then every effort will be made to contact parents/carers immediately. If parents/carers cannot accompany a child to hospital, a member of staff will take them and remain with the child until such time as the parents/carers can get there.

There are fully trained first aiders in school and all support staff have basic first aid training.

Sickness & Diarrhoea
If your child has a sickness and/or diarrhoea bug, they must remain at home until fully recovered. If you are confident that an isolated episode of sickness is not a sickness bug, then your child can return to school as soon as they feel well enough. For example, if a child has spent a lot of time after lunch, running around & has then been sick, this is likely to be circumstantial, rather than a virus. Therefore, they may be able to remain in school.

Medicines

If your child has been prescribed or is using over-the-counter medicines during the school day, we require you to come into school to administer it, school are unable to store or administer any medication (with the exception of asthma inhalers).

In exceptional circumstances, prescribed medication should be brought to school by the parent or an adult authorised by the parent. Administration of prescribed medication only will be undertaken by designated staff. Please do not send non-prescribed medicine to school. All medicines must be clearly labelled and kept in the original container; and to comply with our guidelines, the relevant form must be completed. Children will only be given prescribed medication once the form is completed.

Children should not have any form of medication including cough sweets, creams etc. on their person under any circumstances.

Head lice

If your child has head lice please ensure they have been treated as soon as possible. Whilst your child is being treated, they are still required to attend. Please inform school of the need to treat your child, this will also allow us to inform other parents discreetly, enabling them to check and treat their children if necessary.

Head lice and nits – NHS (www.nhs.uk)

Medical Conditions & Allergies

It is important you inform us of any medical condition which might affect your child’s education or for which emergency aid may be necessary e.g. asthma, epilepsy.

Allergies also need to be registered on your child’s records e.g. food allergies, plasters etc.

Children who have specific medical needs may have an individual medical care plan. Training and any administration of care is kept up to date and held centrally in the First Aid Room.

Intimate Care

‘Intimate care’ is defined as any involvement that requires touching or the carrying out of invasive procedures to support the personal care needs of the child. Where possible children will carry out these tasks independently; however, for a small number of pupils especially those with a physical/learning disability or those with medical needs intimate care support may be required on either a regular or intermittent basis in order to address need through an agreed Intimate Care Plan.

Intimate Care Policy Sept 2023

Asthma

Asthmatic children may, following discussion and agreement between parents and school, keep their anti-asthmatic inhalers with them throughout the school day. However, we do prefer to keep inhalers in the classroom so that a child’s use can be closely monitored.

Children will have access to their inhalers at all times and have a personalised Asthma Care Plan in place. These should be named and handed to the class teacher. When children are not on the premises e.g. on school outings and visits, inhalers will be kept by the staff who are accompanying them so that children can self-administer when necessary.

School Nursing Team

During the school year, members of the School Nursing team attend Parent Coffee Mornings, Parents Evenings and also to work alongside staff and pupils directly as part of the RSHE curriculum. They also carry out routine health checks, including vision and hearing tests in FS2 and Year 6.

If you have concerns around your child’s health, please contact Mrs Bond (Parent Support Advisor) who will be able to sign post you to further support through the School Nursing Team if appropriate.