School is asking for details of medicine

[Chaya]

Hi, daughter had cramps and mentioned to one of the pastoral team that she had a GP appointment to look into it. She had the appointment, got a prescription, all fine. School is telling me I need to tell them the name and dose of the prescription.

I'm not comfortable telling them this. They've said it's because of supporting her during exams which doesn't make sense and I've said I'm not going to be asking for additional time and this has nothing to do with exams or school.

I've had a look at policies and can't see where they can 'require' me to tell them. They've not got weird about hay-fever medicine. If she goes on an overnight school trip I accept that I will need to disclose but this just seems a bizarre over-reach however teacher is really adamant she NEEDS this so I'm questioning myself.

I wanted to know if anyone knows if there's a specific requirement about this? I googled and then checked the school website and can't find anything supporting this teacher's request....

If anything happens in school, and your dd needs medical attention it’s important that they know all her current medical details including medications and doses. For example, some medications may affect blood clotting times, others may interact with any treatment medics may need to give

I’ve only ever given school details of medicine that needs to be taken in school.

That said given it’s exam season if she is taking medication and a side effect might be fatigue/ loss of concentration then she might be entitled to extra time. You can get 25% extra time where I am. My eldest is dyslexic gets this extra allowance but lots of students do for one reason or another.

Why wouldn't you tell them? They already know why she's been unwell, telling them the name of the treatment isn't a bigger information share than that.

We told DDs school when she was put on medication. She dosnt take it at school but it can have side effects and them knowing she’s on it can help make decisions on how she behaves/is at school. The meds can make her drowsy, brain fog, anxious, fidgity, hypr. It’s a medication that needs regular monitoring as its effects on her will change as she changes, hits puberty etc. There are also certain other medications it can interfere with so the school need to know in case of an emergency.

I don’t understand why you wouldn’t tell them.

It's normal and important to share information about your child's medications with the school. They are looking after her for 6 hours a day and they need to know.

I've never been asked to specify the name of any medication .
Maybe you could just tell her the type so pain killers/ antibiotics/ antihistamines etc.
Unless she's required to take a dose in school or it has strong side effects I don't see how it would help them to know.

I never told school what DD was prescribed unless it was something to take at school. I notified them that she wasn’t allowed Ibuprofen, only paracetamol for period pain when she wasn’t allowed ibuprofen but that’s about it. She has additional needs so when she took paracetamol to college this year (for period pain to take at lunch time) I emailed them to confirm that it’s paracetamol and one dose to take at once.
If the medicine can makes have some side effects I would probably do email to a pastoral team that “Alice is taken antibiotic which can make her extremely thirsty so don’t be surprised if she is refilling her water bottle twice per day but let me know if it’s 4 times per day.” But I wouldn’t share dosage and maybe not the name. It’s a bit strange that they asked for name AND dosage.

I'm not comfortable telling them this

Why? It’s not shameful. They’ll have policies to ensure data protection.

You don't have to tell them

Paracetomol 12mg.
Easy.
Any issues they would be calling dor you anyway.

It will be in case of drug interactions, I assume that you've given permission for over the counter meds to be issued by the nurse? So they'll need to know what the drug is in order to be able to give anything else, they can't risk for example, giving too much paracetamol.

I am assuming your reluctance to name the medication is because it is that contraceptive pill. So you would rather risk your daughter being unwell at school from a bad reaction to the drug and school medical staff or paramedics having to delay treatment because you don't want to name the drug. Think of your daughter's safety and just let the teacher know the details.

No I wouldn’t be telling them because it’s not something I’d feel the school needed to know about.

Why would school have the expertise to know what side effects meds have? Or what interactions there are?

Presumably they just need to know about stuff they are expected to give in school, not keep up to date complete drug histories.

But they would be able to tell a paramedic who had been called if a child collapses. Everyone saying 'don't tell school' are you really saying you would take the responsibility for your child receiving inappropriate or delayed treatment because you don't want teachers to know about the medicines your child is taking?

Yes tell them. In an emergency if they cant get hold of you paramedics etc will need to know. You are being ridiculous

Our school ask for details of all meds taken either in school or at home. In a medical emergency we would need access to that information and it’s quicker to access our system than to expect a panicking parent to remember.

What nurse? No school is handing out over the counter medications.

It’s up to your dd. And for those saying school need to know in case anything happens just remember there are a lot of children on medication that only they know about if they are gillick competent and have seen the gp themselves , in these cases if they are taken ill even at home nobody knows what they are taking

We've not had to disclose any other medicine. Not hay-fever medicine or antibiotics not given during school hours we only get asked to specify medicine that kids take when on overnight trips . All of which can have side-effects too. School doesn't appear to have a policy about it.

And yes it's a contraceptive

No. They won't know about every girl who is on the pill, and probably half the parents won't know either
She's entitled to privacy. I can't imagine telling the school I was on the pill!

Stick to your guns. No one at school ‘needs’ to know about your daughter taking this!

If she is boarding and you are a distance away then yes they need to know. If not they don’t.

Theres a difference between hay fever meds and antibiotics that are taken occasionally and regularly prescribed medication. Id expect to notify school of all prescribed regular stuff (also requested by sports teams etc)

My child’s school does. They can give basic painkillers etc. There is a school nurse.