ILLNESS AND ABSENCE

If your child is absent from school, please inform the school office on the morning of the absence, ideally before school starts and certainly by 9.30am. Absences can be notified by leaving a message on our answerphone at any time or by using the My Child At School (MCAS) app. Please ensure you give your child’s full name, class and details of the illness. Registers are checked each morning and you will be contacted if we do not know why your child is absent on that day.  Please be aware that legally children need to be in school unless there is a valid reason such as ill health or an authorised agreed absence. In order to safeguard your children the school has a duty of care to ensure you child is accounted for by 9.30 am on a daily basis, therefore if we do not have a reason why you child is not in school the following procedures are applied:

• We will phone the main contacts registered with the child
• We will leave messages as to why we are calling
• If we have not heard from the main contacts we follow up with other contacts listed
• A text message is then sent out to the primary adults on the list, informing them of a pending visit if we do not hear why the child is absent.
• If we then do not hear anything by 10.00 am we arrange for a home visit by Members of the Senior Leadership Team to ensure your child is safe.
• If we have not still been able to get hold of anybody in relation to the child’s absence, school have a duty of care to contact the relevant outside agencies.

If your child is sick during the day, we will contact you so that your child may be taken home. Cuts and grazes from playground falls are dealt with in the school’s medical room.  If your child has a minor bump to the head, we will send you an email informing you of the incident. However, if a more serious injury is suspected, parents and carers will be called.

Please be aware that if your child is sick or has diarrhoea they cannot return to school until at least 48 hours after their last bout.

Please also ensure we have up to date contact details for you. You can update this information yourself using your MCAS app.

 

MEDICINES

Updated regulations from the Department for Education (DfE) about the administration of medicines came into force on 1st September 2014.

In line with these regulations, we will only administer medicines that have been prescribed by a doctor or dentist.

Medicines must be provided in their original container as dispensed by a pharmacist; they must also include the prescriber's instructions for administration. Prescription medicines will only be administered by the school if the dosage is more than 3 times each day.  Parents are encouraged to request a prescribe dosage to fit around the school day.

We have a small stock of standard liquid paracetamol for relief of pain that occurs during the school day, ie period pain, migraines to pupils of all ages. We also have standard antihistamine for symptoms of mild allergic reaction, such as hayfever. If your child has a known fever, please do not administer medication and send them into school.

If your child requires regular hayfever medication, we ask that your child has this before school where possible. Please also try and use a once, or twice, a day medication or something that will last for the duration of the school day.

None of the above will be administered without checking with the parent first.  It is imperative that medical forms are completed and returned as without consent we will be unable to administer any non-prescription medicines. Consent for adhoc medication can be updated on your MCAS app and the consent form to allow us to administer prescribed medication, can be obtained from the school office or can be located on the website under “Medical Forms”.

For further detailed information please read our Managing Medicines Policy which can be found under “Our School”, “Policies” within the website.

We use a system call ‘Medical Tracker’ to keep track of any of our medical interventions, your child’s medicines and any accidents which may occur.

Any messages regarding medicines or head bumps will be sent via email from ‘[email protected]’. As always, when giving medical treatment at school, we will call if we need to or if medication is required.