Illness and Disability

Administering of Medicines

Medicines should only be brought to school when essential, that is where it would be detrimental to your child’s health if the medicines were not administered during the school day. Matron is able to oversee the administering of medicines where this has been agreed in advance. Medicines should always be provided in their original container and include the prescriber’s instructions for administering. Please inform Matron if your child’s medical history changes during the year.

Disability

The school seeks to ensure that no disabled student or member of staff is treated less favourably due to a disability and that all reasonable steps are taken to ensure that they are not placed at a disadvantage.  The school adopts the DDA (Disability Discrimination Act) definition of disability as ‘a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his or her ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities’.

This information should be passed to Matron when your child joins the school or whenever a disability becomes known. We aim to be as supportive as we can, so please get in touch as necessary.

Illness

If your child is unwell and unable to attend school, a parent/guardian should phone our Attendance Officer or email her on attendance@challoners.org on the first day of the absence and, on return to school, confirm by letter or email to the Attendance Officer the dates when your child was absent (notes in planners to explain absences cannot be accepted).  If the absence is longer than a few days duration you should provide an interim update on your child’s condition so the school can formulate a plan for catching up on work missed.

School will not provide work for absences of less than five days' duration except in exceptional circumstances.

If your child is taken ill in school, he should go to Matron or will be attended by a member of staff with an advanced qualification in First Aid. If necessary you will be contacted to collect your child or, in the case of a serious accident requiring medical treatment, an ambulance will be called.

Medical Appointments

Students should bring in a note to Matron giving the date and time of any medical or dental appointment which would involve leaving site during the school day. Students must sign out with Matron and sign back in again on their return to school, so that we know who is on site at any time.