Medical Conditions and Allergies
The school are committed to ensuring that all children with medical conditions and/or allergies receive the care and support they need whilst in school.
To achieve this, it is important that a partnership is established between the parents, student and the school, working alongside healthcare professionals when required.
Each year, we will check that we have the accurate medical information for students.
For students who have a condition/allergy that requires active management by the school, parents will be asked to work with the school to create an Individual Healthcare Plan; these will then be reviewed and updated at least annually.
For student who require medication to be held by the school, whether routinely or in the event of an emergency, parents will need to complete a permission form as well. The IHP will detail how and when medication should be administered. Parents need to ensure the school have in-date medication, and that any changes to medication are communicated immediately.
It is vital we do have accurate information for student. We would therefore ask that parents respond to requests for information as soon as possible to avoid additional work to chase this information.
For students who need an Individual Healthcare plan, please contact our medical lead, Claire Turp on 01702 558284, or clairet@thekjs.com, to discuss their needs. It may be that you come in to meet with our medical lead to co-produce the IHP and share key paperwork; other parents who are more familiar with our systems may choose to independently document information straight onto a draft IHP. This should then be sent to clairet@thekjs.com who will work with relevant staff to finalise the IHP, and this final copy will be held on the student’s file and shared with staff as required. Information submitted by parents does not constitute an IHP, as the school must be able to lead on all arrangements. However, we value the time parents spend detailing information that allows us to ensure that we are able to support effectively.
Statutory guidance states that “An Individual Healthcare Plan (IHP) is not a clinical document. It is a description of how the school, college or setting will respond to the information and advice they have received concerning a child or young person’s medical condition or allergy, including from the child or young person themselves, their parents and any healthcare professions involved in their care. The school will “hold the pen” on the IHP because they are responsible for making arrangements to support the child or young person while they are in education. Schools must “make arrangements” for supporting pupils with medical conditions, including allergy. They are not responsible for clinical judgement or healthcare plans provided by health professionals. Each school, college or setting will draw its own IHPs because it best understands its own circumstances and can therefore best judge what arrangements or adaptations may be required to support the children and young people on its roll.”
A copy of the draft IHP template can be found below.
For some students, they may have a specialist action/care plan from a healthcare professional; these are usually in place for anaphylaxis, epilepsy diabetes, sickle cell, and severe asthma, but they may be in place for other condition as well. Copies of these should be provided to the school as soon as the child starts at the school, or when they are issued. IHPs will still be required in all cases, to reflect statutory guidance:
“Care plans, action plans, medication plans and advice letters are distinct documents, separate from the IHP. Where a plan issued by a healthcare professional contains information that staff need in order to support the child or young person safely (including in an emergency) the IHP should refer to the relevant plan and ensure that staff who need to act have appropriate access to it.”
For more information, please see our ‘Policies’ page, which has the most up-to-date versions of our Allergy safety policy, Supporting Children with Medical Conditions policy, and our policy for Children with health needs that cannot attend school.
PARENTAL DRAFT IHP TEMPLATE WITH MEDICATION PERMISSION FORM
Please send completed IHP drafts to clairet@thekjs.com who will work with relevant staff to finalise the IHP, and this final copy will be held on the student’s file and shared with staff as required.
If you child requires medication to be administered by the school at any point, but your child does not have an IHP e.g. if your child has been given a short course of antibiotics, please complete this form and provide a signed copy when handing in medication.
