Supporting pupils with medical needs

At St Andrew’s CE Primary School we ensure that access to education is not reduced or restricted for pupils who have a medical need.

Schools have a responsibility for the health and safety of pupils in their care. The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 makes employers responsible for the health and safety of employees and anyone else on the premises. In the case of pupils with special medical needs, the responsibility of the employer is to make sure that safety measures cover the needs of all pupils at the school. This may mean making special arrangements for particular pupils so that they can access their full and equal entitlement to all aspects of the curriculum. In this case, individual procedures may be required. The Governors of St. Andrew’s school are responsible for making sure that relevant staff know about and are, if necessary, trained to provide any additional support that pupils with medical conditions (long or short term) may need.

The Children and Families Act 2014 places a duty on schools to make arrangements for children with medical conditions. Pupils with medical conditions have the same right of admission to school as other children and cannot be refused admission or excluded from school on medical grounds alone. However, teachers and other school staff in charge of pupils have a common law duty to act ‘in loco parentis’ and must ensure the safety of all pupils in their care. To this end, we reserve the right to refuse admittance to a child with an infectious disease, where there may be a risk posed to others or to the health of the child involved. This duty also extends to teachers leading activities taking place off the school site. This could extend to a need to administer medicine.

Schools, local authorities, health professionals, commissioners and other support services should work together to ensure that children with medical conditions receive a full education. In some cases this will require flexibility and involve, for example, programmes of study that rely on part-time attendance at school in combination with alternative provision arranged by the local authority. Consideration may also be given to how children will be reintegrated back into school after periods of absence.

The prime responsibility for a child’s health lies with the parent, who is responsible for the child’s medication and must supply the school with all relevant information needed in order for proficient care to be given to the child. The school takes advice and guidance from a range of sources, including the School Nurse, Health professionals and the child’s GP in addition to the information provided by parents in the first instance. This enables us to ensure we assess and manage risk and minimise disruption to the learning of the child and others who may be affected.

This policy should be read in conjunction with the Special Educational Needs Policy ; Medical Care Policy; Asthma Letter and Medicines Policy