If your child is unwell at school, we will make every effort to contact you. It is very important that we have up to date home/work telephone numbers or other contact numbers. Until we have contacted you, we will take the action required in the best interests of the child.
From time to time it may be necessary for children to take medicine in school time. This is often the case when a child is taking a course of prescribed antibiotics. Please ensure that all such medicines are labelled with the child’s name, dosage and a spoon, and handed with a note to the School. You will be required to complete a medical form before we can administer any medication. This form is avaliable from the school office.
It is the children’s responsibility to report to the office for their medicine. Children with asthmatic conditions may keep inhalers with them in class and are responsible for their use.
If your child has a long term medical issue, you will be asked to complete a Healthcare plan. This is available from the school office. A Healthcare Plan is used to record important details about individual children’s medical needs at school, their triggers, signs, symptoms, medication and other treatments.
Head Lice
Head lice are a common problem in all schools.The bug is spread by head to head contact and, although schools are an obvious environment for this, more than half the cases are caught out of school. Head lice do not confine their attention to children; adults also need to check their hair.
Somerset Health Authority recommend wet grooming to prevent further infestation. This involves washing the hair with ordinary shampoo, conditioning the hair and combing with a finetoothed comb. If this routine is repeated every 2 or 3 days over a 2-week period when lice are present, any lice emerging from eggs will be
removed before they can spread.
Safeguarding Procedures
All the staff at Elmhurst School give the safeguarding of your children, the highest priorityand fully believe that safeguarding is the shared responsibility of us all. This means that all our staff and volunteers are
recruited following the DfE (prev. DCSF) Safer Recruitment guidelines. However, we are not complacent and we encourage a culture of sharing concerns throughout the school.
We have a fully trained Lead Child Protection Officer in school who is Michael Lawrence and also a Deputy Child Protection Lead Officer who is Tracy Edwards.
If you have any safeguarding concerns about a child at our school, then you should always share these concerns with one of the Child Protection Lead Officers. If you have any concerns about the conduct of a staff member, then you should always share these with the Headteacher (or the Chair of Governors if your
concern is about the Head). They have a duty to talk with the Local Authority Designated Officer for Safeguarding (known as the DO).
If we have any concerns about your child, we will share these with you. We work in close partnership with other agencies and we have a legal duty to discuss serious concerns or seek advice from these agencies (Children’s Social Care/Police) should the need arise. There may be circumstances which require us to contact them before speaking with you, but these will be the exception not the norm.
We work hard to maintain open and honest communication both within our school and with parents/carers. By working together we can all ensure we keep the children at Elmhurst School as safe as possible and ensure a really positive learning environment for all.