Illness
It can be difficult to know if you should send your child to school if they are unwell. Children with coughs and colds can attend school as normal. Unless a child has a temperature of 38 degrees or over, they are usually okay to attend school.
If your child has vomiting or diarrhoea they can only return to school 48 hours after their last episode. This guidance is issued by Public Health England, part of the Health Protection Agency. If you send your child in before this time period, there is a risk of further infection among classmates, and we will ask you to collect your child.
Prescribed Medicines in School
If your child requires medicine to be given at school, we can only administer prescribed medicine if:
- A consent to administer medication form is completed (click on this link to access the form: Parental Consent to Administer Medicine
- It is in its original prescription bottles. These need to be clearly labelled with the child’s name, the date and dosage required.
- It requires a minimum of 4 doses in a day for us to be able to administer a dose during the school day. For medicines requiring 3 doses, these should be given to children at home; in the morning before school, straight after school and just before bed.
Lip Salve, Sun Cream and Other non-prescribed Ointments and Treatments
Lip salve, hand soaps, sun creams, moisturisers, cough sweets etc that are non-prescibed are not allowed in school. These items are likely to contain allergens which may put other children at significant risk, as well as being an unnecessary distraction. We apply this rule uniformly and as soon as we become aware that a child has any such items, these will be confiscated and kept safe in the main office until the end of the school day. This is for the health and safety of ALL children.
Paracetamol (Calpol Infant & 6 Plus) and Antihistamine (Piriton)
We can administer either of these medicines occasionally provided that your child has taken these previously, with no adverse effects, and you have provided consent on the My Child at School App (MCAS). If your child needs either of these medicines for more than one day, they will need to be prescribed by a Dr and the above rules apply. The school will call you before administration and let you know that the medicine is doing to be administered, so that you can ensure that they do not exceed the dosage once they go home.
For further information on infection control, see the document below.