Section 100 of the Children and Families Act 2014 places a duty on governing bodies of maintained schools, proprietors of academies and management committees of PRUs to make arrangements for supporting pupils at their school with medical conditions.

In meeting the duty, the governing body, proprietor or management committee must have regard to1 guidance issued by the Secretary of State under this section. Section 100 will come into force on 1 September 2014.

This policy has been developed by the school’s Governing Body and reflects guidance written in accordance with the Department for Education and Employment’s guidance, “Supporting Pupils at School with Medical Conditions (April 2014)

This policy sets out how the school intends to manage the arrangements for supporting children with medical needs in school.   Most children with medical needs are able to attend school regularly and, with support, from the school, take part in most routine activities, whilst others with more significant medical needs require an Individual Health Care Plan (IHCP) to be drawn up.  This policy also provides information on the administration of medicines in school.

The school’s responsibilities

The Headteacher accepts responsibility, in principle, for school staff administering or supervising the taking of prescribed medication or medical care during the school day.  The acceptance of responsibility may depend, however, upon the nature of any individual needs. Where the Headteacher decides that he cannot meet the medical needs in individual cases, this decision will be notified to the parents/carers promptly.

The Headteacher will seek staff volunteers to administer medicine.  However, teachers’ conditions of service do not allow for Headteachers to require teachers to give medication or supervise the taking of medicine.

Individual Healthcare Plans

Some children have medical conditions which are more long term and require proper management to enable continued access to education. Pupils with such conditions are regarded as having medical needs and although most can attend school regularly, they may need some support from the school to enable them to participate in most normal school activities. School staff may need to take extra care in supervising some activities to ensure that the safety of these and other pupils is not compromised.

It is the policy of SwallownestPrimary School to draw up individual healthcare plans (IHP), to ensure the safety of such pupils. It should be noted that not all pupils who have medical needs will require a health care plan. The school nurse and the Headteacher will decide which pupils require such a care plan.

For full policy please click on the following link. Supporting Children with Medical Needs Policy June 2014