Should a high school ask for & hold records of Asthma medication?

[Katymac]

& if so when should they ask for it?

Guides have a lovely form about what to do & when, as did the junior school but I haven't had anything yet & we are heading towards the silly season for her asthma

[carocaro]

my primary school does not, I just have to fill in a new form with specific instructions each 'silly season' as you put it so well!

[saggarmakersbottomknocker]

Yes, at the beginning of term or if it's really bad the school nurse should do a care plan - and primary should too carocaro. Does dd have her inhaler in school?

[Katymac]

Yes DD has carried it since she was about 7 (or so)- but they rang back & said it should be in a cupboard in the sick room

I am not a happy bunny

[saggarmakersbottomknocker]

It absolutely should not Katymac. Grr on your behalf.

Ashthma UK say that a child's inhaler should be within easy reach of the child, ideally on her person once old enough and at the very least in an easily accessible place in the classroom.

I think they have some school policy guidelines on the website. I'll have a look.

Bottom of this page The Asthma Awareness and School Policy Awareness both say that the child should have her inhaler within easy reach. Perhaps print a copy off and wave it under their noses. And get the school nurse to give them some Asthma awareness training.

[Katymac]

I am having a few problems with the school - she started in Sept and have been ill a lot since - due to being in a new germ pool imo

I have been 'pulled up' on her attendance & sent a letter threatening court action, fines or imprisonment if she doesn't attend school regularly

Is it reasonable to ask to see their asthma policy? - I asked for the form, you know the one that says normally x, in an emergency y, if this happens call 999. But they don't have one

TBH they have pissed me off so I am going by the book from now on - formal, in writing, referring to best practice etc

That website won't let me access stuff - so I'll have a google round to see what else I can find

[saggarmakersbottomknocker]

Yes - ask to see the asthma policy. Asthma UK recommend that they have an asthma register too. I think you can get the documents I linked to in hardcopy if you ring the helpline. Is it a state school Katy? Get in touch with the school nurse - if you don't want to go through school to do this you can ring School Health and leave a message for her to get on touch. She can do you a full care plan with the 'escalation' stages - the administer inhaler, call mum, dial 999 type stuff.

The attendance thing - it's a pain - I do it for a living but I also have a chronically sick child so see it from both sides and hopefully have a better insight than most. They have to be seen to be 'challenging' poor attendance but they also have a duty to support a child who has low attendance due to ill health. So they can't have it both ways.

So the 'challenge' is the letter - fair enough, but they have a duty to do the last bit - part of which is giving your dd control over her health and the ability to keep herself well by having access to her inhaler and having a careplan in place.

[Katymac]

Careplan that is the word I wanted - I have one for guides - which I will copy & give to the school, we have been doing this for years but the high school seem oblivious to their side of it

I know her attendance is bad, I am well aware of it. I phoned to discuss how it could be managed & got 'pulled up' about it see here

& then 2 days later I got the letter grr

TBH they are lucky DD is at school at all at the monment her Dad is chronically ill (potentially dying) & she is struggling with coming to terms with it. I phoned them to talk about it about a week before she went ill this time - so that she would be included in the young carers group.

I feel they should be supporting us as a family not making my life more stressful

I have asked for (& been refused) an appointment to discuss her situation on Monday after half-term - apparently I can just pop in & see if someone is available to talk to.....like my time is worth nothing; I can just keep popping in until someone is available

I have her attendance from last year (Junior school) & I am getting a list of appointment from the GP/Asthma Nurse

DD has voluntarily seen the school nurse of her own back, to chat about how hard she is finding life atm & we are waiting for her to see a counsellor - but the list is long

[saggarmakersbottomknocker]

I think I've read about your dh before katymac. He has lung problems is that right? I'm so sorry things have got so bad.

School sound like they don't know what they should be doing and I'd be putting all this down in writing TBH. Have you ever met EWO allocated to school? I know they often get a bad press on here but if school are really so bad it might be worth having a chat directly with them. You can call via your LA. After all if dd's attendance is lower than 80% your case will land in her lap anyway. You could pre-empt it and explain the difficulties you've been having getting any support via school. Again it's just as much part of her job to support you and enable dd to stay in school as it is to berate and fine the parents who don't really give a toss. I would request a meeting with the school nurse, get a care plan in place and make a further request for counselling for dd. The care isn't just for physical needs either - her emotional needs can be documented too.

It's wrong but the schools often just see their role as challenging the parents and not offering any support. The support itself can succeed or fail depending on the efforts of your school and the support network; school nurse, EWO, CAMHS etc. We've been so lucky with dd - the school nurse is fab, she has a cast iron care plan in place which I hardly had to add to and her EWO is the same one I work with at my school so she knows us so well. I get a bit when I read about some of the issues parents have with school on MN. Not the ones who will moan about anything but those who are truly having a hard time. You shouldn't have to be worrying about this.

[Katymac]

That's it - he has chronic lung disease
One of my parents (I childmind) is the local Attendance Officer but because of politics DD's school has a trainee SW (I think) otherwise we would be fine as the parent sees how ill DD gets

I feel we need support rather than hassle atm

So plan of action:
Contact GP & get evidence of all her appointment
Get in touch with the school Nurse
Contact the Young carers again & make sure the referral is going through for the counsellor
Write (probably email) to the school asking to talk to someone to explain our situation

I'm guessing EWO=Education Welfare Officer