Supporting Pupils with Medical Conditions

Children and young people with medical conditions are entitled to a full education. Parents, children and young people should be fully involved developing and reviewing the support they receive for a medical condition whilst in education.

Information Reviewed May 2018

Early Years Settings

To find out what guidance is given to settings in relation to children with medical conditions, please refer to the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. The relevant pages are Section 3Health - Medicines page 25 and Special Educational Needs page 29.

Schools

To find out what is required of schools regarding children with medical conditions, see the Department of Education guidance “Supporting Pupils at School with Medical Conditions”.  This guidance also informs parents and carers of their expectations. 

The guidance explains that all children with medical conditions must be properly supported in school both academically and emotionally so that they have full access to education, including school trips and physical education. The governing bodies of schools must make sure that arrangements are in place to support children with medical conditions and that school leaders consult health and social care professionals, pupils and parents about this.

  • If necessary an Independent Health Care Plan (IHCP) should be set in place describing in detail how a child’s health needs will be met and by whom
  • If a pupil also has a disability, reasonable adjustments must also be set in place
  • If a pupil also has complex special educational needs (SEN) and needs an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), this would either be in addition to their IHCP or the EHCP must include support for the medical condition.  Please note that a medical condition alone does not trigger an assessment for an EHCP

If a child cannot attend school due to a long term medical condition the school may consider a referral to Melbury College to consider how best to support the child’s education. For some young people this can lead to them being educated by the SMART Centre which is part of Melbury College for a temporary period.

Each school must publish its own policy describing how pupils with medical needs will be supported.

 

Colleges of Further Education

Wherever possible, further education settings should meet the needs of pupils with medical conditions in the same way as schools. It is good practice for colleges to describe the support they offer for pupils with medical conditions clearly on their own websites.

Colleges would also be expected to make reasonable adjustments if the condition has a long-term adverse effect on the young person’s ability to carry out day-to-day activities, such as in-class learning, self-study or, work experience.

See the External Links on this page for information and examples of reasonable adjustments

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Page last reviewed: 22/05/2018

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