Many of our children will, at some point, have a short term medical condition that could affect their participation in school activities and may need the support of school to administer medication for a time limited period. School will happily support this in exceptional circumstances provided certain criteria are followed.
A minority of our children may have longer term medical conditions that, if not properly managed, could limit their access to education. These children are regarded as having medical needs, and as such may require an individual healthcare plan to be complied to enable them to attend school regularly and to take part in most normal school activities.
Parents or carers have prime responsibility for their child’s health and should provide school with all information relating to their child’s medical condition, any medication taken, hospital treatment planned or specialist care needed. Mr Shildrick coordinates all information for this group and should be informed immediately when concerns arise or information is changed.
Administering Medication in school
In view of the fact that mistakes can be made in giving children medicine and may have serious consequences, parents should be aware of the stringent procedures we follow in school.
The administration of medicine is the responsibility of parents and carers. There is no statutory duty or requirement on teachers or support staff to administer medicine, but where they volunteer to do so strict school policy will be followed. These practices and procedures are as advised by the Local Authority Health and Safety Department.
- Under no circumstances should children bring any form of non-prescription medicine to school (those bought over the counter at the chemist such as Calpol, anti-histamines, cough sweets, lipsyl). This will not be administered by school. If these are brought into school staff will maintain them for safe keeping and return them to an adult at the end of the school day.
- Only in very exceptional circumstances will school administer prescribed medicine to children. Current guidance states that this is only when prescribed four or more times per day or the child attends breakfast and afterschool club and their day is extended.
- If medicine needs to be administered during the school day we follow clear procedures and guidelines as indicated in the school’s Illness, Medicine and First Aid Policy (listed below).
- Parents must complete a form providing a range of details and instructions regarding any request for mediciation to be administered. Thsi can be downloaded at the bottom of this page. Without a full completion of this form the school will not administer medicine.
- Parents must be aware that, on occasion, due to clerical error or oversight we may fail to administer a child’s prescribed medicine at the designated time. We will inform parents immediately if this occurs and seek their advice.
- All medicines are stored in the school medical area and are administered only by authorised members of the school staff. If a child arrives with medicine without prior discussions by parents, we are sorry but we cannot allow the medicine to be taken and will not be responsible for any ill effects that this may have.
Asthma
If your child suffers from asthma please ensure that you read the Asthma Policy and complete the Asthma information form (listed below). If our school records show that a child has Asthma and uses an inhaler they will not be allowed to leave school premises without it. Please help us by keeping our records updated and contact Mr Shildrick (Deputy Head Teacher) who coordinates information sharing for children in this group if there are any changes.
For children who are Asthmatic they must have an inhaler in the school at all times which may be kept in their tidy tray or in a dedicated classroom area (younger children). All inhalers must be clearly labelled with your child’s name and the correct dosage indicated.
Allergies
If your child suffers from allergies and is at risk of severe allergic reactions please read our Allergies Policy and complete the Allergies information form (listed below). Medication such as Anti-Histamines and Epi-pens are stored in school centrally and staff also have training in their administration. We also need to ensure that all staff are aware of your child’s medical needs and this will be added to our medical awareness display in the staffroom. Please help us by keeping our records updated and contact Mr Shildrick (Deputy Head Teacher) who coordinates information sharing for children in this group if there are any changes.