Our primary school says if children need medicine at specific times 'pop' in & DIY

[wonkywillow]

Surely this penalises busy working parents, with occupations where they can't just 'pop' in? Or a parent who simply has other pressing commitments..

Can schools actually do this? They seem to be negating their responsibilities towards providing education and support for children with long term medical conditions that require regular medication.

I think you are deliberately missing a point. school's meds admin policy has nothing to do with a news letter.

This does not bode well for good working relationships. No wonder schools are struggling to get volunteers. People will not want to help out those who will only do the minimum required themselves,

It's not clear whether you are talking about volunteer parents or staff.
I have to say, OP, that with the curt attitude you're expressing on here, I'd be surprised if there are any staff at your dc's school who are willing to put themselves out for you as, for example, suburbanrhonda does at her school (and many others of us do too).

Another thing OP is missing a point , volunteer school staff to administer drugs to the children, and general volunteering parents.
Is it only me that feel unnecessary malice against school? If you have reason for this, you need to state, or I can only assume.

A child with a long term health condition should have a care plan which details their support. Even then medication should only be administered at school when it would be detrimental to a child’s health and only by someone trained to do so. Yes staff have to be trained (to give a spoonful of medicine) or they aren't covered if anything goes wrong and would be liable to legal action so perhaps you can understand the reluctance.

I can totally understand what mrz says, since I have to renew care plan every year. And as a parent who has a child who need support from school staff, I am very grateful how far the school and staff go to help my child to attend school regularly without any difficulty.

I think you need to address this and ask them to be clearer about whether they mean paracetamol ad hoc for 'feeling off colour' or any medication that's required.

Children are legally entitled to a FT education from the term after their 5th birthday.
Parents can chose to HE or chose to send to an education establishment.
If they chose an educational establishment then they have to have their needs met.

If school don't have funds to train staff to administer medications then the LA should arrange funding for this.

The school also need to be absolutely clear so that if a child is on short term medication (eg antibiotics) has a whole 7-10 days absence because parents work and can't 'pop in' to administer (eg child goes to grandparents etc instead) - and therefore has a poor attendance - the parents are covered because it's school policy forcing extended absense.

And also, it's not just one member of staff that needs to be trained; if that person is ever not there for some reason, there needs to be a back-up. Or more.

I think there are children with recurrent issues that may not have/specifically need a care plan but may need occassional to frequent meds during the day. Eg uti or ear infection. Dd has had about 5-6 of these in the last 2 years. Which would be lots of extra days off school if they cannot administer AB. I think even 3x a day could be an issue if the child is usually at before/after clubs and some are supposed to be with or without food etc. And evenly spaced.
Tbh i can see why a mum would go in to do the insulin due to the seriousness.
Would be much nicer if kids could swallow tablets for AB and paracetamol. As i dont think the AB would have to be refrigerated.

Would you/can you give your child their own medicine eg asthma ventolin inhaler??

I guess the problem comes when no staff are willing to take on the role. It is a huge responsibility and it needs to be taken on willingly with highly trained staff because if mistakes were made the consequences are huge. Things like adhd meds are controlled and have a street value (can be used as amphetamines in the wrong hands) and need to be double checked counting every tablet every time they're given to ensure the supply hasn't been tampered with and even things like calpol can have serious side effects.

Even schools with on site school nurses (such as special schools) are strict with antibiotics only being given if it's 4x a day. And encourage being off school first 48 hours of the course

Where I am a governor our SEND report clearly states that we would put in place a Health Care Plan for any child with ongoing medical needs. We also undertake to train staff appropriately to deliver the plan. We have a Head of the highest quality and no child with ongoing health problems would have a parent popping in unless it was agreed with the parent and it was their preference. Occasionally a parent prefers to be responsible.

Children with medical needs that are not ongoing are different. We would discuss medication administration with parents when the child returns to school and generally we don’t wish do it. We prefer the child to complete the course of medication before returning to school.

Parents do try and drop off medication with their child in the morning but staff then discuss administration of them at collection time. It is important that parents talk to the school but there is a clear difference between finishing off a course of medication and an ongoing medical condition that requires a health plan. I suspect the newsletter was about children without a health care plan.

In my previous school as a Governor we had a child come in with his complete packet of ADHD drugs and hand them out to his friends! The parent just gave him the drugs. There are some monumentally stupid people out there!

Ds needs daily medication in school (twice a day expect on pe days when it is 3 times a day) - he has a care plan in place and we discuss things with School at any changes to make things work as smoothly as possible.

That is massively different from child x who needs antibiotics 3 times a day though as that can be done from home. If it is needed more often then the parents need to discuss with the school nefore sending the child in and again come up with a plan about how best to make it work.

There should never be an assumption that School will give medicines without parents making the effort to a) Find an alternative way around it and b) talking to the School.

We have over 2000 pupils. We have one medical officer. She is purely employed to deal with unwell children - as I’m part of the governing body I can tell you she costs over £12,000 a year. I won’t disclose the full cost but it’s more than that. In addition she has to have training every 12 months at a cost of £360. It’s a full time job with a school of 2000. I can imagine it’s time consuming with a school of 500. I can see why they would ask parents where possible to ease the burden.

I think you are deliberately missing a point. school's meds admin policy has nothing to do with a news letter.

Newsletters should be correct and the information given in them should not conflict with school policy.

I have to say, OP, that with the curt attitude you're expressing on here, I'd be surprised if there are any staff at your dc's school who are willing to put themselves out for you as, for example, suburbanrhonda does at her school (and many others of us do too).

I have always managed to ensure my child gets the provision they need.

A medical officer is a great idea.

At my infant school we will dispense prescribed medication which has the child's name, current date and dosage on it. We only give temporary medication if more than two doses are required or a specific 'in school hours' is stated. It's the office staff who do this. I don't think they 'have' to but as a school they've agreed to.

We also dispense longer term medication such as inhalers and insulin, and will administer epipens and do blood tests for children with diabetes (and the relevant action thereafter)

Again we don't HAVE to but most, if not all, of our teachers and TAs have agreed to do so. We do it for the children in our own specific classes rather than one person doing them all across the school. We have annual first aid training as a whole school, some staff have additional training and if we have a child with a specific need, such as requiring insulin and blood sugar checks. Then usually the LA school nurse will come in - often in a staff meeting time - and show us how to do so.

Again. op, if your child needs special health care provision, you should have individual health care plan for your child. And school will provide it for you. General news letters are only adrressing for non specific children's needs.

Aragog the school has to make provision for children requiring medication in school hours though. The staff employed by the school can refuse to administer medication but if all staff do this then the school has to find an alternative (other than requiring parents to go in).

General news letters are only adrressing for non specific children's needs.

Newsletters should be inclusive. If they are not, it can easily cause confusion. Percentages of children with additional needs are significant enough for them not continually be treated as an 'exception'.

Newsflash, wonky - there is a huge recruitment and retention crisis in schools. They can't find staff full stop.

Feenie, so that means it is ok to let the most vulnerable suffer more?

I give up. You are definitely deliberately missing a point.
Good luck.

I have always managed to ensure my child gets the provision they need.

Don't piss them off in future then.

We got a text home last week asking parents not to take children in via the office but to use the correct route in. I have permission to take ds in via the office therefore I was able to realise that the message wasn’t relevant. Same wokld go if they sent a reminder that medication shouldn’t be administered at school because I know our situation has already been discussed and sorted.

Doesn’t take a rocket scientist to differentiate really!