Advice please : medication at school.

pollypenny

It's time to lower the tempetature here and work with the school to find a compromise which helps your daughter.

As said, she will not be on the same timetable for ever and perhaps needs to learn to cope with less rigidity. In fact, be less anxious about anxiety. Person Ones suggestion of a 15 minute range is surely worth trying.

As for getting up quietly, the teacher may well be explaining something, even if main exposition has finished.

Talk of complaining to Ofsted is ludicrous.

lostinrates

*Robin* wrote: »

What a very, very sad situation. It does rather sound as if the poor child's history at this school is clouding the judgement of the management (-sorry to use that word but it seems most appropriate).
not disagreeing from what is written here
If she were my childyoung adult, not really child, I would withdraw her.against her wishes? Today. She is at the beginning of a difficult road; BP is a life-long disorder - it's much more important to get the girl stabilised on effective meds and learn coping strategies, than to force her through exams alongside her 'normal' peers at this point.
yes, agreed, but coping strategies might not be what she perceives them to be. They might include flexibility. ( again I personally don't see a big issue with pills at eleven, but we don't know why, as a several times daily pill taker I 'd also be thinking outside my ideal if that cannot be achieved what else can I try. Its very easy at 16 or 17.....whatever the condition, to make a bigger deal out of this than need be.

Hopefully the other local school will be able to offer this child 'a clean slate' and more sympathetic treatment, but if not I'd be looking at other options rather than continuing to battle said management at the current school.

I'd be raising it. But its this young woman's choice.

OP fwiw, I did leave my sixth form at Christmas in first year, and is also an option. I took the rest of the year off education and worked and competed. It was a good move for me. ( though I was in a different situation and ultimately it did not impact on my progression, but really a year or two here or there really doesn't matter so long as funding is procurable).

rpc

FBaby wrote: »

Out of interest, how are they breaking the law? I can understand this would be the case if the GP had written it was essential that the drugs were taken at this time, but until it is the case, why is it illegal if they have no evidence that the timing is essential to the pupil's health and they are not stopping them to take it all together?

They aren't making reasonable adjustments as required by the Equality Act - insisting that the drugs be taken at break time is making no adjustment at all and it seems that the child, parent, nurse, CAHMs, etc agree that some adjustment is needed. Bear in mind that the school asked for them to be taken at 11, the school is now moving the goalposts. See Equality Act.

They are not supporting the child with their medical needs, perhaps best evidenced by the distress shown at the nurses station. See Children and Families Act. There is statutory guidance (i.e. secondary legislation, still law) that describes what they have to do and it isn't a case of giving the school free reign to interpret a prescription label. The school does need to develop and individual healthcare plan and the GP's participation in this is very much on the fringe. It's the teaching staff, school nurse, parent and child who need to be involved first and foremost.

This bit of the guidance is, perhaps, the most relevant:

After discussion with parents, children who are competent should be encouraged to take responsibility for managing their own medicines and procedures.Wherever possible, children should be allowed to carry their own medicines and relevant devices or should be able to access their medicines for self- medication, quickly and easily.

It sounds like OP's daughter is competent enough to self-medicate.

Or other parts, under the heading of "Unacceptable Practice":

prevent children from easily accessing their inhalers and medication and administering their medication when and where necessary

prevent pupils from drinking, eating or taking toilet or other breaks whenever they need to in order to manage their medical condition effectively

ignore the views of the child or their parents

It isn't just about having evidence that taking the drugs at a different time is detrimental to the health of the child (and the school are not in a position to judge on that, it is the child first and foremost). The equality objective of the school is not to deliver an education without hurting anyone, it is to deliver that education in a non-discriminatory manner so that those with protected characteristcs can access it just the same as the healthy, middle-class white kid.

If the school's arrangements affect the ability of the child to access services offered by the school, they must make reasonable adjustments in order to not discriminate. What OP describes happening yesterday looks, on the face of it, to fall under that banner. The ability of OP's child to fit in with the school patently appears to be affected whether or not her health is. From the perspective of the Equality Act, that is what matters.

The school may not be a million miles away from where they need to be and OP might not get their perfect solution, but the school isn't even trying to comply. Not trying = breaking the law and the onus is on the school to make it work, not the OP and not the daughter. If the school tries, they might not get it right first time but nobody expects them to. I'd have a lot more sympathy with the school if they appeared to be making any effort at all.

There is a huge volume of caselaw on the equality act, particularly from employment tribunals. The key theme is that to comply with the law, you need to make a reasonable, genuine, effort to adjust. That still applies where there are conflicts (disability that renders you incapable of wearing PPE is some of the more interesting case law around the equality act IMHO).

tooldle

The school are asking for the meds to be taken at break time, as was the arrangement in the previous school year. Reasonable adjustments have to consider the needs of all, not just the op's daughter. There are a number of other young adults in the class who will be affected.
I read it that the ops daughter initially took the meds at 10.35, in the last school year. The school asked for her to move to 11am to coincide with break. Op's daughter has now moved to sixth form, where the break is earlier. The school are suggesting she go back to taking the meds earlier so as not to impact on other learners. The school know this can be done , simply because that was the original position.

rpc

Reasonable adjustments have to consider the needs of all, not just the op's daughter. There are a number of other young adults in the class who will be affected.

Which is the case, but that is only one of many factors that should be considered.

The question that must be answered in order to meet Equality Act obligations is quite simple.

For the specific case of OP's daughter, is it reasonable to leave class to take medication that she requires?

That has a Yes or No answer. If it is reasonable, then it would be illegal not to make the adjustment. If it is not reasonable, then it should not be done under any circumstance. There isn't a "it is reasonable, but we think that X" or "it is reasonable, but so would Y be." It either is reasonable, or it is not. If it is reasonable, you cannot in law justify not making the adjustment. The onus is on the school to make adjustments, not on OP's daughter.

I don't realistically see that a child quietly leaving the class causes any significant disruption to others. She could even sit near the door to minimise it. While my school days are a distant memory, I've been on plenty of training courses and done further academic study. I can't say I, or anyone else I've spoken to, has felt their learning in classroom or lecture scenarios disrupted by adult toilet breaks. If an adult can leave "class" without disrupting anyone else then it must be within the capability of a young adult to do the same.

The Children and Families Act is probably the stronger one for OP's daughter because it is far more specific. The guidance highlights unacceptable behaviour which the school is doing. There's no "reasonable adjustment" measure there, it's primarily about the school nurse, parent and child agreeing (with other inputs) a healthcare plan that works and the school are then bound to deliver it.

FBaby

They aren't making reasonable adjustments as required by the Equality Act - insisting that the drugs be taken at break time is making no adjustment

Except that they are not insisting on this, what they have insisted on is that she doesn't leave the classroom. She CAN take the meds at 11am in the classroom, but OP's daughter is not comfortable with this.

It therefore seems that as it is in most similar cases, it is not black and white and all comes down to how one interpretates the word 'reasonable'.

hardpressed

What is going to happen when the clocks change, 11 am will effectively be 10am. How did she cope when this happened in her previous class?

pollypenny

Rpc, since the daughter is in the sixth firm she will be unlikely to be in a standard classroom layout.

My classes sat in a circle to foster discussion.

I really think compromise on both sides is needed.

lostinrates

hardpressed wrote: »

What is going to happen when the clocks change, 11 am will effectively be 10am. How did she cope when this happened in her previous class?

Fwiw, I find this a ruddy night mare on very different pills.

I wish they'd leave clocks alone, don't mind where ...just leave them alone!

Fluff15

hardpressed wrote: »

What is going to happen when the clocks change, 11 am will effectively be 10am. How did she cope when this happened in her previous class?

Then her entire schedule would shift an hour too, so no change would happen. She would still take her morning and evening medications at the same intervals. Plus, this only happens twice a year (and on a weekend) so not a massive impact in comparison to the schooling schedule.