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Northaw CE Primary School and Nursery

Loving for Today, Learning for Tomorrow, Forever in Faith

Health and Safety

Coronavirus

 

The guidance on actions for schools during the coronavirus outbreak was withdrawn 1 April 2022; however, we will continue with a school risk assessment. In the event of an outbreak, we will, of course, introduce additional controls.

 

We would also like to direct you to this guidance for people with symptoms of a respiratory infection including COVID-19, or a positive test result for COVID-19:

 

Children and young people (aged 18 years and under) who have symptoms of a respiratory infection, including COVID-19

 

Respiratory infections are common in children and young people, particularly during the winter months. Symptoms can be caused by several respiratory infections including the common cold, COVID-19 and RSV.

 

For most children and young people, these illnesses will not be serious, and they will soon recover following rest and plenty of fluids.

 

Very few children and young people with respiratory infections become seriously unwell. This is also true for children and young people with long-term conditions. Some children under 2, especially those born prematurely or with a heart condition, can be more seriously unwell from RSV.

 

Attending education is hugely important for children and young people’s health and their future.

 

When children and young people with symptoms should stay at home and when they can return to education

 

Children and young people with mild symptoms such as a runny nose, sore throat, or slight cough, who are otherwise well, can continue to attend their education setting.

 

Children and young people who are unwell and have a high temperature should stay at home and avoid contact with other people, where they can. They can go back to school, college or childcare, and resume normal activities when they no longer have a high temperature and they are well enough to attend.

 

All children and young people with respiratory symptoms should be encouraged to cover their mouth and nose with a disposable tissue when coughing and/or sneezing and to wash their hands after using or disposing of tissues.

 

It can be difficult to know when to seek help if your child is unwell. If you are worried about your child, especially if they are aged under 2 years old, then you should seek medical help.

 

Children and young people aged 18 years and under who have a positive test result

 

It is not recommended that children and young people are tested for COVID-19 unless directed to by a health professional.

 

If a child or young person has a positive COVID-19 test result they should try to stay at home and avoid contact with other people for 3 days after the day they took the test, if they can. After 3 days, if they feel well and do not have a high temperature, the risk of passing the infection on to others is much lower. This is because children and young people tend to be infectious to other people for less time than adults.

 

Children and young people who usually go to school, college or childcare and who live with someone who has a positive COVID-19 test result should continue to attend as normal.

Dogs

 

Dogs of any breed or size, even on a lead, can scare younger children, so please do not bring them on site or near the gates.

First Aid

 

Parents or carers should be informed if their child has been unwell at school, hurt or had an accident requiring treatment.

Invitations and Presents

 

Invitations to parties and presents for classmates, e.g. birthday sweets or home baking, cannot be accepted by staff for distribution in school.

Managing Medicines

 

Our procedures necessarily reflect the following details:

 

  • medicines should only be administered at school when it would be detrimental to a child’s health or school attendance not to do so

  • no child under 16 should be given prescription or non-prescription medicines without their parent’s written consent – except in exceptional circumstances where the medicine has been prescribed to the child without the knowledge of the parents. In such cases, every effort should be made to encourage the child or young person to involve their parents while respecting their right to confidentiality. Schools should set out the circumstances in which non-prescription medicines may be administered*

  • a child under 16 should never be given medicine containing aspirin unless prescribed by a doctor. Medication, e.g. for pain relief, should never be administered without first checking maximum dosages and when the previous dose was taken. Parents should be informed

  • where clinically possible, medicines should be prescribed in dose frequencies which enable them to be taken outside school hours

  • schools should only accept prescribed medicines if these are in-date, labelled, provided in the original container as dispensed by a pharmacist and include instructions for administration, dosage and storage. The exception to this is insulin, which must still be in date, but will generally be available to schools inside an insulin pen or a pump, rather than in its original container

  • all medicines should be stored safely. Children should know where their medicines are at all times and be able to access them immediately. Where relevant, they should know who holds the key to the storage facility. Medicines and devices such as asthma inhalers, blood glucose testing meters and adrenaline pens should be always readily available to children and not locked away. This is particularly important to consider when outside of school premises, e.g. on school trips

  • when no longer required, medicines should be returned to the parent to arrange for safe disposal. Sharps boxes should always be used for the disposal of needles and other sharps

  • a child who has been prescribed a controlled drug may legally have it in their possession if they are competent to do so, but passing it to another child for use is an offence. Monitoring arrangements may be necessary. Schools should otherwise keep controlled drugs that have been prescribed for a pupil securely stored in a non-portable container and only named staff should have access. Controlled drugs should be easily accessible in an emergency. A record should be kept of any doses used and the amount of the controlled drug held

  • school staff may administer a controlled drug to the child for whom it has been prescribed. Staff administering medicines should do so in accordance with the prescriber’s instructions. Schools should keep a record of all medicines administered to individual children, stating what, how and how much was administered, when and by whom. Any side effects of the medication to be administered at school should be noted in school

 

*We can only administer non-prescription medicines when they have been recommended by a professional, e.g. GP, and written consent has been provided beforehand.

Parking Safety

 

The carparks are solely for use by staff. No parent or carer should enter with their vehicle apart from when permission has been expressly given by the headteacher. Please avoid parking opposite the school given the dangers this poses to our children.

Science and DT

 

When planning science and DT, we carefully follow the latest edition of Be safe! (Health and safety in school science and technology for teachers of 3-to12-year-olds) from the Association for Science Education.

Sickness

 

The NHS is clear you can send your child to school with a cold, cough, headache, sore throat or stomach ache if they do not have a fever; cold sore or head lice, but please let us know, so we can look after them. If you are not sure, send them to school anyway as they often improve following registration and we would contact you should their symptoms become more concerning.

Moments matter, attendance counts.

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