Medical Information
Administering Medicines Form
As parents and carers, it is your responsibility to ensure correct medicines that have not passed their expiry date and are clearly labelled with your child’s name and date of birth are provided to us. You are also required to complete the relevant healthcare plan and/or administering medicine forms online, otherwise we will be unable to administer the medicine. Telephone messages, e-mails or handwritten notes will not be sufficient.
Parents/carers should make a note of the expiry date of any medication held at school and keep us supplied with medication that is in date, ensuring soon to expire medication is collected and replaced in good time. Due to the amount of medication, we hold and administer, we cannot be held responsible for keeping track of expiry dates.
Individual Health Care Plan
Children that have ongoing medical needs require an individual health care plan (IHCP) completed by a parent/carer for each new academic year. A child’s health care plan is reviewed annually or earlier if the child’s needs change. Individual Health Care Plans are developed in partnership between the school, parents, pupils and relevant healthcare professional(s) who can advise on a child's case. The aim is to ensure that, as a school, we know how to support each child effectively and provide clarity about what needs to be done, when and by whom.
Head Bump Text
From time to time you may receive a text from school to say that your child has had a head bump.
Every child who has a head bump is seen by a qualfied first aider. If there are no adverse effects, a text is sent to parents/carers to tell you about the head bump and to monitor your child for 24 hours.
Please look out for any of the following:
Confusion/Memory Loss
Nausea /Vomiting
Vision changes
Excessive sleepiness
Severe headache
Slurred speech
Restlessness/Irritability
Dizziness
Please seek medical attention if necessary.
If your child's head bump is considered to be more serious and requires prompt medical attention we will make every effort to contact you. If we are unable to do so, we will take whatever action is considered necessary as for any other injury or medical emergency.
If your child is too poorly to attend school please call or email the school office each day with the reason for their absence.
Tel: 01844 345251
Email: absence@prpglt.co.uk
If a doctor has diagnosed your child with an illness or condition or you have been given a course of medication from the doctor that needs to be administered regularly throughout the day, we are able to administer this during school hours. Please email the school office for a link if you need to complete an online Administering Medicine form or an Individual Health Care Plan.
When it's fine for children to come to school
https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/is-my-child-too-ill-for-school/
✓ Cold sores
There's no need to keep your child off school if they have a cold sore - a tiny blister that develops on the lips or around the mouth. Urge them not to touch the blister or kiss anyone while they have the cold sore, or to share things like cups and towels.
✓ Conjunctivitis
Again, you don't need to keep your child away from school if they have conjunctivitis, an eye condition caused by infection or allergies. The NHS recommends you get advice from your pharmacist and encourage your child not to rub their eyes and to wash their hands regularly.
✓ Coughs and colds
It's fine to send your child to school with a minor cough or cold. However, if they have a fever, keep them off school until the fever goes.
✓ Hand, foot and mouth disease
Hand, foot and mouth disease is particularly common in children and causes ulcers, or sores, inside or around the mouth, and a rash or blisters on the hands, feet, legs or buttocks. While it's not pleasant, it's not serious and there's no need to keep children off school if they have it.
✓ Head lice and nits
It's very common for young children to get head lice given their heads are often close together as they play or do their schoolwork. While they spread easily at school, the NHS says there's no need to keep them at home. However, parents should let their teacher know if their child has them and remove the nits through wet combing.
✓ Slapped cheek syndrome
Slapped cheek syndrome is a viral infection and usually causes a bright red rash on the cheeks. Although the rash can look alarming, children do not need to be kept off school because once the rash appears, they're no longer infectious. If you suspect your child has the infection, take them to the GP and let school know if they're diagnosed with it. It should clear up on its own within three weeks.
✓ Sore throat
You're OK to send your child to school if they have a sore throat. However, if they also have a fever you should keep them at home until it goes away.
✓ Threadworms
Threadworms are tiny worms in your poo that look like pieces of white thread. While they sound scary, they can be treated without seeing your GP and you can buy medicine for threadworms from pharmacies. You don't have to keep your child off school but make sure you treat everyone in your household, even if they do not have symptoms.
✓ Ringworm
Ringworm is a common fungal infection in kids and normally causes a red or silver rash. The NHS says to see your pharmacist unless it's on their scalp, in which case you should see your GP. It's fine for your child to go to school once they have started treatment.
When children shouldn't go to school
✗ Chickenpox
If your child has chickenpox you should keep them off school until all the spots have crusted over. This is usually about five days after the spots first appeared.
✗ Diarrhoea or vomiting
Children with diarrhoea or vomiting should stay away from school for two days after their symptoms have gone. They're often caused by a stomach bug and should stop in a few days.
✗ Ear infection
If your child has an ear infection and a fever or severe earache, keep them off school until they're feeling better or their fever goes away. Ear infections often get better on their own within three days, although sometimes symptoms can last up to a week.
✗ Fever
A normal temperature in babies and children is about 36.4C, but this can vary slightly from child to child. A fever is a high temperature of 38C or more - and is very common in young kids. If your child has a fever, keep them off school until the fever goes away. The temperature usually returns to normal within three or four days.
✗ Scarlet fever
Scarlet fever triggers flu-like symptoms, including a high temperature of 38C or above, a sore throat, swollen neck glands (a large lump on the side of your neck) and a rash a few days later. If your child has
scarlet fever, they'll need treatment with antibiotics from the GP - otherwise they'll be infectious for two to three weeks. Your child can go back to school 24 hours after starting antibiotics.
✗ Impetigo
Impetigo is a skin infection that's very contagious so it's best to keep your child off school if they have it.
Sickness “48-hour rule”
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 Vomiting exclusion
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. In general, it is recommended that any staff member or child with diarrhoea and/or vomiting symptoms must stay away or be excluded from the school or early years setting 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 after lunch on Thursday, provided there have not been any further episodes of vomiting.
Thank you for your understanding with this.