Teachers of reception class, responsibilities?

[Catcrazy008]

My 4 year old has attended a bump up morning today for her starting school in September.
I spoke to her teachers before that if my child does not drink sufficiently it causes her health problems and that she is on medication for this.
Today when dropping her at school I mentioned that she has her drinks bottle and would they please check she drinks. I also mentioned to my daughter here is your bottle, please drink some.
Very hot day today, picked up daughter at lunchtime, her drink had not been touched in 3 hrs.
I am not there to watch her but seems teachers are not interested?!

They have responsibility for 30 children.

That old chestnut. Yes, they are responsible for each of the 30 children. So if one child has a medical issue, they are responsible for that too.

Would you say they aren’t responsible for the child who needs regular meds? Or the child who has ASD? Or the one with the nut allergy?

OP, I sympathise, we still have the issue of not drinking enough. But if there is a medical issue, the HT does need to be involved in pushing the teacher to do what they need to. I wouldn’t worry about one bump up session but keep and eye on it when she starts full time.

She may well have been drinking but just not from her bottle. When I taught reception we would have kept bottles in bags for lunchtime. I had a low sink with a cup for each child next to it with their name on and they were allowed to help themselves whenever they were thirsty.

That would be reasonable for a childminder or nanny. It's ludicrous to expect a teacher to do this. It will only lead to problems. It is not their job.

If the need to drink water is as essential as the need to take routine medication, then it is absolutely their job. It's not something I would suggest for all children, but if it is a medical need then it needs to be done. In my experience routine medication (or something like insulin checks for diabetes etc) is usually administered by the class TA who is trained to give it. Between them, the staff should be able to do this fairly easily. But like I said, the OP needs to be very specific about how much and how often.

I have been a Reception teacher by the way.

If it is for medical reasons then did you not fill out the bit on the many forms that would of said something like "does your child have a medical condition we need to be aware of". Many child require regular medication throughout the school day so they will have a specific Medical Plan.
You should contact the school quickly before the school year finishes to get her medical condition on file.

We have a table with water and cups that is out all the time. Perhaps they have a similar set up?

We have a child that needs regular drinks (at the behest of the parent) and it is very difficult to keep up with with everything else that is going on in a class of 35+. Particularly when said child does not want a drink and you have to spend 10 minutes persuading them to have one (as pp have said, you can't force them).

In regards to teachers ensuring that medication is taken, at our school the office /admin staff are in charge of administering and recording medication as it is kept locked or in the locked fridge in the office.

Is there a chance she had a drink as part of the routine mid morning? It's been a while since my dd was in reception class but they had milk/water and fruit mid morning and had free access to drinking water all day.

It could be her bottle was empty because she accessed water via other means?

Assuming you put her additional needs on the application form then I'd also put in writing too, maybe a doctors note also?

Start teaching your daughter now to take responsibility for making sure she drinks regularly. Could be something like whenever the bell goes you have to drink water. Or whenever she leaves it enters the class room she drinks, or when ever it's playtime she drinks. To get her into the routine.

Does you're DD fully understand why she has to keep fully hydrated at all times.

Maybe mark her bottle at intervals and say "This is how much you should have left at recess, lunch etc.
.

Ds has medical needs that, in the past, have meant how much he drinks needs to be monitored. This has been done with letters from hcps, and where care plans have been drawn up with the school nurse.

In order to monitor, we drew lines on a water bottle with a sharpie at intervals and a TA would periodically ensure ds had drunk to the next line.

hazeyjane. That's exactly what my friend does with her elderly DM.

Stops UTIs which in turn leads to confusion and memory loss.

I'm also amazed that they have 30+ 4 year old DC in the one class.

Where we are it's 20 at the most sometimes less.

@Angels - really, must be private. Schools are full to bursting here, and fresh streams being added to cope with the influx. Although classes are restricted to 30 in infants only, thereafter its more like 35 with the casual admissions.

homeishere. Did that feel better?

It's a four year old with a medical need. I'm sure with a proper medical plan in place, the school can cope with this whilst DD is at a young age. Naturally she will routinely do this herself before long.

Dd has a care plan at school. I would contact the school and ask if you can get one in place. It does require the local school nurse to visit to write the initial plan.

If your dd doesn’t meet the threshold, I think you need to ask the question of how the school will safeguard your dd to ensure she drinks enough.

Is she compliant if asked to drink would be my first question really because staff can’t physically force her to drink. But if she refuses the school can call you for example. This is why I think it would be good to have a plan if drinking fluids is so imperative.

As pps have said, your dd May have had a drink and been taught to refill her bottle.

They can remind her to drink, but can't force her. Unlike nursery there is no key worker or ratio groups. It's just that teacher and the TA.

They can't spend the day making them drink water or check they've been to the loo. They need to get on with teaching the class.

I have 30 children in my reception class... Yes it's hard to make sure they have all had a drink but if one had a medical reason I think I would be more aware I need to send them. We don't have bottles just a fountain. OP I would try and make sure your daughter was more independent with getting her own drinks and have another chat with the teacher.

I didn’t mean to sound like she should be allowed to become dehydrated. She needs to have times when office staff or senior staff collect her and make sure she is offered a drink, if this is a medical need. Take your medical evidence and see the Head.

What happens if the teacher does stop the class regularly to remind the child to drink, but the child doesn't or doesn’t drink enough? Is the teacher then responsible for ill health?

I’d be very worried about a child going into a large classroom of children where the child needs to drink a bottle of water in a three hour period. OP is it then two bottles for a full day OP? If this is medically needed, I don’t think mentioning is enough. There needs to be very specific, direct discussion and a plan drawn up.