Children's Health & Safety

Pupil Data Forms are sent home in September showing the information we currently hold on our system.

It is really important that you check this form and make any changes before sending it back to school as soon as possible.

The form gives us information about who to contact if there is an emergency, and tells us about any health needs your child may have. If we are not able to reach a parent in an emergency we need your permission to provide emergency medical care, and we need to know who your child’s doctor is.

If anything changes with telephone number, your home life or your child’s health during the academic year please send a note into school so we can update our records.

Signing In and Out during School Times

Our school hours are 8.45am – 3.15pm, but we open our gates and classroom doors from 8.30am every morning.

We do expect that all children should be in school by 8.45am.

If children arrive after 8.45am they may miss registration, so they need to be signed in at the front office by an adult. This is so we know they are in school – in case we have an emergency or evacuation and do a roll-call.

In order to keep children safe, children must be collected from their teacher at 3.15pm, from either their classroom or the yard.

We can only let children leave the school gates alone at 3.15pm if they are in Years 5 or 6, and we have signed consent for the child to ‘walk home alone’ (no

matter how far they will be walking).

If children have to leave before 3.15pm they will need to be collected from the office by an adult and be signed out, for the same reason.

We keep the gates shut between 8.45am and 3.15pm, and ask everyone to sign in and out at the front office. This is to make sure we know who is on site – both in case we have an emergency or an evacuation and need to do a roll-call, and to safeguard the children.

Speaking to Children During the School Day

We have a number of children in school who have restricted contact with certain adults, including family members. We manage the contact that all adults have with children during the school day to keep our children safe.

We ask that adults do not call children to the fence to talk during play times. If someone does call a child to the fence our staff will ask the child not to talk to them, and to move away.

If an adult telephones the school during the school day a member of staff will take a message and pass it on to the member of staff responsible for that child. This is both so that we do not disturb their learning in class, and so that children do not accidentally speak to someone they shouldn’t. If the caller thinks it necessary to speak to the child directly, the call will be passed to a member of the Senior Leadership Team who will ask for more details and then agree with the caller what is best to do.

If an adult or family member comes into school during the school day and asks to speak to a child we will ask them to sign in, and to come into an appropriate place (such as the Headteacher’s office) to speak to a member of the Senior Leadership Team about their concern, and what they need to talk to the child about. If it is appropriate the child will be brought to speak to the visitor in a quiet place in school. We may ask a member of school’s Senior Leadership Team or Pastoral Team to accompany the child during the conversation and to offer support.

If any family member has concerns about who has contact with their child, or their own access to their child, please speak to the Headteacher.

If your child has been unwell please follow your doctor’s guidance about whether they should be at school. Children who have a ‘tummy bug’ and experience vomiting or diarrhoea should stay away from school until they have been clear of symptoms for 48 hours. For example, if they are sick at 8.00am on Monday, they will be able to return to school after 8.00am on Wednesday.

We recommend that medications are administered by family members at home, but we are able to administer medications in school. If your child needs to have medication in school time (except blue inhalers) please read our Medication In School Policy and complete a medication consent form, and give it to the school office.

Medicines must be brought by an adult to the school office – never given to children to look after. Prescribed medication packets must have a printed label printed showing the child’s name, prescribed dosage and frequency. When we give medicines to children we will have two adults attending and it will be recorded on Medical tracker.

The medication policies also applies to things like skin creams, lip balms, and throat sweets.

Blue (salbutamol) asthma inhalers are the only exception to the Medicine In School Policy. Inhalers should be given to class teachers ensure they are available for children should they need them.

The NHS produce a ‘School Asthma Action Plan’ leaflet, found below that families may wish to download, fill in and keep with their child’s inhaler.

The school nurse team can be contacted on 0300 2470040 for advice or support managing your child’s health and well-being.

Staff from the health service also visit school each year to do health checks such as height, weight and eye sight tests. Before a visit like this they will send home a letter that gives you the option to ‘opt out’.

Please see the below information about helping to keep children healthy:

US-based website Drugwatch offers the Children’s Comprehensive Health Guide – From Newborn to Preteen, which answers families questions about common health related questions. They say ‘When should my baby see a doctor? How does bullying affect my preteen? What medications are potentially dangerous for children? These are common questions parents have as their children reach different stages of their growth and development. Some children may face obesity, diabetes or hearing loss; others may require glasses or an EpiPen for allergies. You can promote children’s well-being by learning how their bodies grow, what diseases or disorders to look out for and how to identify risky products.’

If your child has to leave school before the end of the school day, for example for a doctor’s appointment, please let us know in advance.

We do not allow children to leave school alone during the day – they must be collected from the school office by an adult.

Children who come in and out of school during the office (not at the usual start and home times) must be signed in and out.

We offer every family the opportunity to have a password to be used when collecting children, though class teachers will get to know the family members who collect children everyday, so may not ask for the password every time.

If someone different will be collecting your child please let us know who to expect. If there is a password in place please make sure that this adult knows what it is.

Children and families should come to school through the pedestrian entrances. Please do not walk through the car park – this is not safe.

If you bring your child to school by car, please do not drive into the car park, as this is very busy at the beginning and end of the day, but park (legally!) near the school.

Families arriving in taxis should ask the driver to pull up on the road (either on Firbank Road or Keswick Road), and walk to the school gate via the usual pedestrian routes. Taxis coming into the car park at dropping-off and home times block access for other users, which is busy at this time.

Please do not park at the Firbank Centre as this car park is needed for their own use.

Dogs are not allowed onto school grounds, so please do not bring them in when you come to collect a child.

Smoking is not allowed in school or on school grounds.

Generally we don’t encourage children to bring their own personal belongings into school, especially not anything that is precious or expensive. School is a very busy place and things do sometimes go missing or get broken and we cannot accept responsibility for personal items or devote adult time into sorting out problems caused by personal items.

At certain times of the year we may allow  children to bring in something small for example when the item links to topics.

Children are discouraged from bringing mobile phones to school however if they are needed for arrangements after school they must be left in the school office during the day.

If your child becomes ill while at school we will attempt to contact you straight away. We do not have the facilities to care for a really sick child and will therefore contact you to enable your child to be taken home. We send home a Pupil Data Form each September. It is really important that you fill this in as accurately as you can, and that you send it back to school as soon as possible so that we have contact telephone numbers for family and alternative adults who are able to collect your child in the event of an emergency.

If children do get ill, they are often still well enough to come to school – such as with a mild cough or cold. If children need Calpol families can give them a dose before school, and staff can call home if they need another dose during the day. If necessary, families can give permission for school staff to administer Calpol to children.

Children who are really ill may need to be kept at home, but families need to ring and let school know where they are, every day.

Children who have an upset tummy (vomiting or diarrhoea) should stay away from school for 48 hours from the last time they are ill, to stop the germs spreading.

Head lice are an unfortunate part of life for many school families, so the school would like to remind all families about our advice.

We encourage all our families to please check your children for head lice weekly, and if you find any evidence please treat them before they come back to school.

The easiest way to do this is to cover the hair in  conditioner and comb it through with a nit comb and to repeat this at least once a week.

If you find live head lice then you can get some lotion that will kill the lice from a chemist/pharmacist, but you must keep combing and re-treating to get rid of the babies when they hatch out as the lotion doesn’t usually kill the eggs.

Not everyone itches when they have head lice, so you can’t rely on children telling you about it, and because they are so small you may not see them until they become a big problem.

You must check everyone in the family.

As we are such a close community it is really important that we all do this to stop head lice becoming a problem.

If you need any further support you can speak to your family doctor, a chemist (pharmacist), or school nurse team on 0300 2470040.

Further information is also available from the NHS website.