Medical

Feeling unwell during the day

If a student feels unwell during the school day, they should excuse themselves from the lesson and report to the Medical Room, where a Welfare Assistant will assess the situation and take appropriate action.

If necessary, parents will be informed and asked to make arrangements for their child to return home. It is therefore vital that we are aware of the emergency contact number for all students and that we are informed of any changes as a matter of urgency. Please note that we are unable to send students home to an empty house.

Inhalers

Students who have been prescribed an inhaler should carry a working, in-date inhaler which is clearly labelled with their name. They should bring this to school with them every day.

In the event of a student displaying symptoms of asthma, and their inhaler is not available or is unusable, the school has an emergency Salbutamol inhaler. This should only be used by students:

  • Who have been diagnosed with asthma and prescribed an inhaler
  • OR who have been prescribed an inhaler as reliever medication
  • AND for whom parental consent for use of the emergency inhaler has been given.

If you would like your child to have access to the emergency inhaler, please ask them to collect an emergency inhaler consent form from the Medical Room or use the links on the left to download a form. Once complete, this should be returned to the Medical Room.

Permanent or Long-Term Medical Problems

If a student has a specific medical condition which may cause them to need special arrangements whilst in school, parents are asked to contact the school to discuss these arrangements. An individual health care plan may be drawn up if it is felt to be appropriate.

Teaching staff will be informed where appropriate and where parents are in agreement that this should be the case.

The Welfare Assistant will be informed of the arrangements and will note down details in a record file. This will be kept in the Medical Room.

Prescription Medications

In order for us to administer prescription medications, we need the written permission of the parents. Please ask at reception or the Medical Room for a copy of our consent form or use the links on the left to download one. Once this is completed, the student should bring it to the Medical Room at the start of the school day along with the medication. Please note that antibiotics will only be administered if the recommended dosage is 4 times or more per day.

Where possible, medication (whether prescribed or non-prescription) should be administered by parents outside of the school day.

Please ensure that medications are clearly marked with your child’s name and tutor group. Medications should be kept in the original container as dispensed by the pharmacy.

Students are permitted to administer prescription medications and should carry one day’s dosage only in their zipped blazer pocket.

Non-Prescription Medications

Students are permitted to carry non-prescribed medications for their own use.

Short-term problems

When information is received by the school regarding short-term medical issues (such as broken limbs or recovery after an operation or an illness, for example) the appropriate Head of Year will contact home to discuss how the needs of the student can best be served.

Possible measures could include:

  • allowing the student to leave lessons early to allow more time to arrive at the next destination and avoiding the corridors at busy times
  • a flexible timetable or flexible attendance where this is necessary
  • enabling the student to work on a lower floor, where upper floors are temporarily inaccessible.
  • if their writing arm is affected, short-term access to a laptop or net book during lesson times.​

Storage of medications

All medications will be held in a locked cupboard inside the Medical Room or in kept refrigerated in the Medical Room if necessary. This excludes inhalers, insulin and EpiPens, which are available quickly in case of emergency.

Confidential Text Messaging for Parents

The School Nursing team in Dorset are delighted to be able to provide a confidential text messaging service to the Parents and Carers of children and young people aged between 5 and 19.

This text messaging service is called ParentLine 5-19 and Parents will be able to gain advice from a member of the School Nursing team via text message for topics such as Development, Healthy eating, Weight management, Behaviour management, Emotional health and wellbeing, Toileting, Sleep and more.

How to access ParentLine (from 1st November)

  • Parent/carer sends a text message to ParentLine 5-19 on 07312 263131
  • An automated reply confirms the message has been received.
  • A trained healthcare professional from the School Nursing team will respond to the message between 9am and 4pm Monday to Friday (Excluding weekends, bank holidays and School Holidays) within 24 working hours.

Please note that ParentLine 5-19 will initially only be available during School Term times and will be closed during School Holidays and this should not be used as an emergency service - urgent help should be sought from an NHS walk-in centre or call NHS 111, or in an emergency, dial 999 or go to A&E.