Keeping students safe, feeling well and staying healthy is of prime concern to our staff. The following information is useful if your child is unwell, needs medication or has a medical condition that requires additional planning and support.
Victorian Primary School Nursing Program
Each year the Victorian Primary School Nursing Program offers a free health assessment service to all children during their first year of primary school. This service is not compulsory, and parents will be required to give their permission. Information will be sent home to all Foundation students around during the second half of the school year.
First Aid Procedure
Most staff at Porepunkah Primary School have up to date First Aid Qualifications. If there is a situation or incident which occurs at school or a school activity, a staff member with training will administer first aid. If first aid is administered for a minor injury or condition, we will notify you either by phone, message or note. In a medical emergency, the school will take appropriate action including calling ‘000’ should the situation warrant it.
Care for Ill Students
Students who are unwell should not attend school; this includes any child who has had Gastro symptoms within the past 48 hours. If a student becomes unwell during the school day they will be placed in a comfortable area and monitored by staff. We will contact you to collect them as soon as possible, as home is the best place to be when you are unwell.
Medication at School
Any medication, other than student’s personal asthma medication, brought to school by a student must be taken to the school office at the start of the school day. No medication, including headache tablets, will be administered to children without the express written permission of parents or guardians using the appropriate Medications Administration Form. Medication should be clearly labelled with the student’s name, dosage required and the time the medication needs to be administered.
Anaphylaxis
Anaphylaxis is a severe allergic reaction that occurs after exposure to an allergen. The most common allergens for school aged children are nuts, eggs, cow’s milk, fish, shellfish, wheat, soy, sesame, latex, certain insect stings and medications. Any students at Porepunkah Primary School who are diagnosed as being at risk of suffering from an anaphylactic reaction by a medical practitioner must have an up-to-date ASCIA Action Plan for Anaphylaxis. The student must provide their own EpiPen or adrenaline auto injector which remains with the child during the school day. The school will maintain an adrenaline auto injector for general use, as a back-up to those provided by parents for specific students, and also for students who may suffer from a first-time reaction at school.
Asthma
Students who are diagnosed with Asthma must provide the school with an Asthma Action Plan which is completed by the child’s medical practitioner and have their own Asthma kit with them at school, always. Asthma Plans are available to all staff. The school will respond to any warnings from the Department with regards to weather conditions which may trigger Asthma symptoms.
Infectious Diseases
Primary schools are settings where there can be an increased risk for transmission of certain infectious diseases. Students who are displaying symptoms such as headache, fever, coughs or other symptoms of infectious diseases will be sent home to decrease the likelihood of transmission to staff and other students. The following information from the Department of Health details exclusion requirement for each disease:
| Chicken Pox | Exclude until all blisters have dried |
| Conjunctivitis | Exclude until discharge from eyes has ceased |
| Diarrhoeal Illness – such as worms | Exclude until there has not been vomiting or a loose bowel motion for 24 hours |
| Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease | Exclude until all blisters have dried |
| Herpes (cold sores) | Young children unable to comply with good hygiene practices should be excluded while the lesion is weeping. Lesion is to be covered by a dressing where possible. |
| Impetigo (school sores) | Exclude until appropriate treatment has commenced. Sores on exposed surfaces must be covered with a watertight dressing |
| Influenza | Exclude until well |
| Measles | Exclude for at least 4 days after onset of rash |
| Meningitis | Exclude until well |
| Meningococcal Infection | Exclude until adequate carrier eradication therapy has been completed |
| Mumps | Exclude for 5 days or until swelling goes down (whichever is sooner) |
| Ring Worm, Scabies, Head Lice | Exclude until the day after appropriate treatment has commenced |
| Rubella | Exclude until fully recovered or for at least four days after the onset of rash |
| Slapped Cheek – Human Parvovirus | Exclusion is not required however please notify the school as there is an increased risk to some people |
| Viral Gastroenteritis | Exclude until 48 hours after symptoms have stopped |
Head Lice
Porepunkah Primary School understands that anyone can catch head lice. Head lice cannot fly, hop or jump. They spread from person to person by head-to-head contact. Parents have the primary responsibility for the detection and treatment of head lice on their children. The frequency of outbreaks is greatly reduced by parents checking their child’s hair regularly and notifying the school if their child has a case of head lice.