Our Coordinator for pupils with medical needs is: Mrs Casbon and all staff understand the common medical conditions that affect children at this school. Staff receive training on the impact medical conditions can have on pupils.

Temporary Medical Needs

1. If a child has a temporary medical need, and requires medication to be administered at school, then a Parental Agreement for School to Administer Medicine form needs to be completed.
2. Before any medication is accepted by the school, the parent/carer must bring along a completed form to the office and meet with the Medical Needs coordinator. The dosage and the reason for administering the medicine will be discussed.
3. Once the administration of the medication has been agreed, the medication must be brought in to the office each morning and collected at the end of every day by the parent/carer. It cannot stay in school overnight.

This school understands the importance of medication being taken as described.

• Medicine can only be administered in school if it is unreasonable for it to be given at home. Medicines to be given three times daily should be given at home except in special circumstances.
• The medicine must be prescribed for the child by their doctor and be in its original container with the chemist’s label showing name of child, dosage, frequency, method of administration , date of issue and expiry date.
• Non prescribed medicines are not administered in school except where they form part of a healthcare plan for pupils with long term medical conditions.

Recurring/Long Term Medical Conditions

1. Parents will be asked if their child has any health conditions or issues on the enrolment form.
2. All parents whom indicate on the enrolment form, or otherwise inform the school that their child has a medical need, are offered an appointment with the school’s Medical Needs Coordinator (MNC)/Lead first aider at the start of the school year and annually thereafter.
3. The school will complete a healthcare plan to record important details about individual children’s medical needs at school, their triggers, signs, symptoms, medication and other treatments. Where a child has a special education need the healthcare plan will be linked to the Education, Health and Care Plan where they have one.
4. An individual healthcare plan (IHCP) is completed with the parents/carers of all pupils with long term medical needs.

This is done:

• At enrolment
• At the start of each school year
• When a diagnosis is first communicated to the school
• When there is a change in the needs of the pupil

Any parent/carer can request a meeting with the MNC/lead first aider at any time in the school year if they are concerned about their child’s health. Parents understand that if their child’s medication changes or ceases they should inform the school immediately.

Vomiting and Diarrhoea

From time to time children are sick (vomit) either at home or at school. Unfortunately it is not possible to distinguish between the causes, and therefore it is essential that the same rule of exclusion applies in all cases of vomiting or diarrhoea.

In the Health Protection Agency document, “Guidelines for the Control of Infection and Communicable Disease in School and Early Years Settings”, the guidance is:

Diarrhoea and/or vomiting commonly affects children and staff and can be caused by a number of different germs, including viruses, parasites and bacteria. Infections can be easily spread from person to person (by unwashed hands), especially in children. A child with diarrhoea and/or vomiting symptoms must stay away school until they have been free of symptoms for 48 hours (the ‘48 hour rule’) and feel well. Personal hygiene whilst ill must be very strict.

If your child is sick at school, we will ask you or your emergency contact to take your child home. They should not return for 48 hours. We appreciate that this is inconvenient in many cases, and you may not believe your child is ill, but you will appreciate that we do this in all cases and it should reduce the risk of infection for all children in school.  As an example, if your child is sick at lunchtime on a Tuesday, they should not return to school until Friday, provided there have not been any further episodes of vomiting or diarrhoea.

 Allergies

We are a nut free school. All staff are aware that nuts should not be brought into school either as nuts or incorporated into cookies, cakes etc.

Parents are regularly reminded that nuts, peanut butter and chocolate/hazelnut spreads e.g. Nutella are not allowed in school and the reasons made clear.

If your child has school dinners and suffers from an allergy or has a special dietary requirement, then please contact the school office.

Inhalers

The school holds an emergency salbutamol inhaler and spacers. In the event of an emergency where the child’s own reliever inhaler is empty or unavailable the school reliever and spacer can be used.

All parents of children diagnosed with asthma and prescribed a reliever inhaler or prescribed a reliever inhaler should complete an administration of medicines form to allow their child to use the school inhaler in such an emergency.

Where a child’s life is at risk the school inhaler will be made available to all children diagnosed with asthma and prescribed a reliever inhaler or prescribed a reliever inhaler.

Storage and Transferring Medicines

• All medicines are stored safely and appropriately in a place which is not normally accessible to pupils. Refrigerated medication will be stored in the fridge in the medical room.
• All medication should be collected by the parent/carer at the end of the summer term. Medication is not stored over the summer holiday. Any medication not collected will be taken to a pharmacy for safe disposal and a record kept of action.
• Parents/carers using holiday club facilities should make arrangements to hand over any medicines. This school is not responsible for transferring medication to other bodies.
• This school is not responsible for transferring medication to after school clubs. Regular medication for use during the school day should remain in school. Occasional medicines may be surrendered to after school club staff if the school is in receipt of explicit written permission from the parent/carer and written agreement from the after school club. The responsibility for any such transfer will remain with the parent/carer or after school club.

Please see the Medical Conditions Policy for further details.