diabetics at primary school

[tryingtobemarypoppins2]

Would any mums mind outlining how your child, who is diabetic, is cared for whilst at primary school.

Many thanks

Honestly? My DC's school, which previously we had thought was very good, were totally clueless over diabetes.

Thankfully the office manager who was a friend took responsibility for at least making sure that there were emergency supplies (sent in by us) available in the school office and otherwise we made sure our DCs were able to do their own blood testing and injections as soon as possible.

They should be allowed to test in class when necessary and if their blood sugar is low (ie below 4) they should be able to eat in class. Children suffering from hypos should not be walking anywhere to get treatment.

Children with Type 1 diabetes are covered by the Disability Discrimination Act (2005) so should not be excluded from school trips or sport purely on account of their diabetes.

HTH a little.

I think you need to make an appointment and speak to the HT to discuss how it will be maanged.

I would say that there should be some training for staf from a health professional.

One school I worked in, the mum of a girl with cystic fibrosis came into school and did an assembly to give the children knowledge on her illness too.

Teachers in the UK can't by law be obliged to inject children, and that's fair enough as it's an invasive procedure. However in the US, schools are legally required to have someone on site at all times who can do this - unfortunately in the UK they aren't, so unless someone volunteers to take on the responsibility, it's down to the child him or herself, or their parents.

Staff training is a great idea, but still only helps if someone at the school is prepared to take on that responsibility.

Have you checked out the website www.childrenwithdiabetesuk.org/? Brilliant site with lots of parents of children with D offering great advice. Also this link may be helpful www.childrenwithdiabetesuk.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/AccessingSupportForChildrenWithDiabetesInSchool-UK.pdf. My DD was diagnosed with Type1 at the age of 4 and we had real problems getting the right support at school. I found this site and info very useful. HTH.

It depends on what sort of regime your child is on too as to how easy it is to integrate into the school day. When my DD started in reception she was on a 3 injections a day regime so no need for an injection during school hours, she is now on a 4 a day regime so she does have an injection at lunchtime (which she does herself because she is 9)

I am sure your paed diabetes nurse will go in and train the staff - train as many as possible as in my experience more is always better, even if one person takes responsibility always having a good confident person as a back up is essential.

Of course, the hardest thing about this is trusting someone else with the care of your child, well it was for me anyway. Diabetes is scary enough to deal with when you have absolute control but handing over to another person is terribly challenging.

Also be really clear with them - have a care plan (which I think they may have to have anyway) and when your child starts school, make sure at the beginning your review with them regularly - also have a book in the diabetes bag that goes between school and home and loads of spare stuff, snacks etc. Contrary to another poster I think it is unlikely that they will be happy to let a child test and treat in class, it is the needle thing and health and safety and unless it is an emergency they would probably prefer to have the child's equipment in another area like the sick bay or side room.

Routines and what help each school offers seems to differ hugely and as CECE says the thing to do is arrange an appointment with the HT and selected others at your school and with your Diabetes nurse maybe. DD has always had a box in class, on teachers desk, with her blood sugar monitor, glucose inside and a care plan, checking her finger (supervised when very young) when nec - it is important you find a routine and support you are happy with.
Totally agree with tarty, trusting someone else to handle things correctly was very difficult but becomes easier the older the child.

tarty, I actually said schools should let children test in class, not that they?d be happy to ? a very different thing.

The reason testing should, ideally, be allowed in class is because a) if DC is going hypo the last thing they need is to be walking to another room going even lower, particularly on their own, that?s potentially very dangerous and b) constantly leaving the classroom to test/medicate means DC is missing parts of lessons, which also isn?t ideal (you could actually argue that such a policy falls foul of the DDA since DC is being disadvantaged in comparison to the other DCs).

With testers taking all of 5 seconds these days, I really don?t see why it should be an issue. Health and safety is bollocks ? no other child is being put at risk in any way, shape or form by my child doing a finger prick blood test.

Good for your DD for handling it so well on her own

My DCs are at secondary school now and manage all your own care, but I wish I?d been a stronger advocate for them when they were younger ? can you tell?

I was a primary teacher and in my time we have had 6 diabetics in school. We always had the testing kit and snacks in class (cloakroom just outside if privacy required) and when testing an adult would oversee (even if it was just me overseeing while also monitoring the class). If low they would eat in the classroom at their desk.

At lunchtime, they would start the year (Y3) generally on 3 injections a day so only needed to test at lunchtime. This would be overseen by a first-aider. If they were particularly high then parents would be phoned to come and give extra injection. By the end of the year they were generally on 4 injections (It's just the way it worked) so would test and then inject themselves at lunchtime with the correct dose being dialled up by the first-aider.

We had a sharps bin in each classroom which had a diabetic. One thing I would say is give the teacher a very clear table showing what to do at different readings - all our diabetics had different levels and 'rules'. Also, a bit of 'give and take' is handy - most of our diabetics had a simple 'if below 4 then glucose and snack then retest 10 mins later, if above 18/20/22 phone mum or dad, otherwise just eat lunch as normal.'

However, we had one who had a very much more detailed list - which included if he was a little high but not hugely high he had to run round for 10 minutes then retest, if still high then run round for another 10 minutes before eating lunch. We followed this,but it made life very difficult because he had to be supervised running around (not least cos he hated running!) which took a dinner lady/TA away from the class they were supposed to be supervising, and then, when the rest of the class were ready to go out, he would come in for his lunch. This isolated him quite a lot.

Now, I don't know if that's a normal thing to ask the school to do or not, but the other children had never had that as part of their routine. I guess I'm saying make it as easy as possible for the school to deal with and they will deal with it as best they can.

Sorry, this turned into an epic!

Gosh Galena, I wish my DCs had been at your school! Sounds like you went out of your way to help ? thank you.

To be honest, mattellie, I think it helped that the first diabetic we had was the son of one of the first-aider TAs - he was diagnosed in Y4 but it meant we were quite 'switched on' to diabetics. If we were ever unsure about what to do, or if we had a problem (i.e. a non-resolving hypo or something) we could always phone across to the classroom she was working in and she'd come over. The parents were reassured because she had such relevant experience with diabetics.

Mattellie - I was just thinking the same, how switched on Galena sounds, I am sure this must have helped the parents & children a great deal.

No experience since I developed Type 1 aged 33 - a little beyond primaary...! Just wanted to make a suggestion, if child is too young to manage injections themselves it may be worth investigating an insulin pump. This can be locked so child cannot "accidentally" overdose themselves. I would imagine teachers/first-aiders would be more comfortable pressing butttons than doing injections.

Quite apart from this aspect I have found the pump FAR better for decent control so may be worth investigating for any child. If any of my children develope T1 I would want them to be on a pump ASAP based on my own experience of injection V pump.

Aww shucks .

I think it helped that all the parents were so down-to-earth about it too. The first time I took a diabetic on a trip his mum simply said 'I've given him extra biscuits for snack time. When he tests at lunchtime he'll probably be really high, but for one day it won't matter and it means you won't be having to deal with a hypo!' It meant I could relax a bit and didn't have to panic about the extra walking and running around he did.

I think, for those parents with diabetic children starting school (or perhaps going into a new class/KS) it's worth just dropping the teacher a note with the important info (even though it does get passed on) and offering to come in to talk the teacher through if needed.

dilb yes, my DD has had a pump since she was 6 (two years after diagnosis) and it improved our lives so much, I would most definitely agree with you and it really did make school management easier.

OP ? Have you had your questions answered ?
Glad to see so many diabetics being cared for well by schools.
I know my mum had alot of problems, but we got there in the end.

There is a child who is diabetic in the y1 class I work in. We have his stuff in the classroom. Either me or the class teacher test him at the start of lunch time. If he is low he is given his snack and drink and sent straight in for lunch. If too high he is injected - not had to do it yet, but know what to do. We know the signs to look out for and if he presents with them we will test him as apprpriate. We also know certain things he can and can't have and at what times of the day.

We had a child in our infant school who needed an injection at lunchtime. There were two of us who did it, checking with each other the readings and insulin dose. Mum was very grateful and supportive. She always kept us up to date with changes to the procedure or dosage and gave very clear instructions on what to do in every case. We had as many instructional sessions with the diabetic nurse as we felt necessary to be confident to start and a detailed care plan. We did it for two years and it was never a problem and mum periodically sent in huge boxes of chocolates for us which was excellent! I hope you find a supportive school.