Bubbles
Childcare and Education for Pre-school and Home Educated Children (Ages 9 months - 11 years)
Illness and Medications Policy
This policy will detail parent/carer responsibilities to inform us when a child is unwell, what we will do if a child becomes unwell whilst in our care and our policy on administering medications to children. It also covers staff use of drugs and alcohol and parent/carer requirements in regards to drugs and alcohol.
Illness and Medications Policy
Child Illness:
If a child has a contagious illness, throws up or has a case of diarrhea please inform us immediately so that we can look out for signs and symptoms in other children. Should your child be unwell in this way they will not be able to return to our setting for 48 hours after the last case of sickness and diarrhea or after the incubation period for the contagious illness. If your child has a high temperature or a fever they will not be able to attend Bubbles until this has returned to normal. Please keep your child at home longer if you feel they are still unwell and unable to fully engage in the activities of the setting.
Children with minor coughs, runny noses and colds are permitted to still attend the setting however if we feel they are not well enough to fully engage in the activities of the setting and that they require more care than we are able to provide we will call parents/carers to collect the child.
If a child becomes unwell in our setting we will administer necessary first aid treatment and provide care and close supervision for the child. If they are too unwell to fully engage in the activities of the setting we will call parents/carers to collect their child. If your child displays signs and symptoms of a contagious illness we will isolate them from the other children, in a quiet, comfortable room of the setting, and call parents/carers to collect the child and seek medical advice. If a child becomes seriously unwell we will follow our emergencies procedure, call for emergency assistance and accompany your child to the hospital if needed. We will contact parents/carers as soon as possbile to inform them.
Parents/Carers illness:
Please do not come to drop your child at the setting or collect your child from the setting if you are displaying signs and symptoms of a contagious illness. If it is not possible to arrange for someone else to collect your child already at our setting please call ahead to inform us of your condition and we will walk your child to the car to avoid passing any germs onto the other children.
Please Note: As stated in your contract, full payment will still be required for unattended sessions due to child or parent illnesses.
Staff illness:
If staff are too unwell to work or are presenting with signs and symptoms of a contagious illness we will do our very best to arrange OFSTED compliant cover by a trusted adult and will inform parents/carers of this. Should we be unable to arrange cover we will contact parents/carers at our earliest convenience to let them know that the setting will be closed or ask that you collect children early. We are legally obliged to follow OFSTED guidelines for ratios and as such will not be able to care for children if we do not have enough staff to do so. One member of staff can care for children up to their ratio and we will offer this if possible. In this case parents/carers will be consulted and asked if they are able to find other arrangements for the days care and spaces will be allocated on need. Should we be unable to reduce numbers attending in this way we will cancel all childcare to avoid unfair space allocation.
Please note: As stated in your contract, the payment amount for cancelled sessions by fault of the childcare provider will be refunded from your next invoice for future childcare.
Administering Medications:
We will administer medication to your child under the following conditions -
Over the counter paracetamol/ ibuprofen -
Calpol and other over the counter paracetamol or ibuprofen must be provided by the parent/carer and a permission form must be signed before we can administer. We will administer this according to the instructions on the bottle. You must inform us of the last time your child received such medication. A record of when this medication is administered will be kept and must be signed by the staff member upon administering and the parent/carer on collection of the child. Please write the child's name and the date on the bottle.
Nappy cream or other skin care creams -
Nappy cream or other over the counter skin care creams used regularly by your child must be provided by the parent/carer and a permission form must be signed before we can administer. We will administer this according to the instruction on the label. A record of when this is applied will be kept and must be signed by the staff member upon application and by the parent/carer on collection of the child. Please write the child's name and date on the label.
Prescribed medication -
We will only be able to administer prescription medications to your child if they are labelled with the prescription label. We will require parents/carers to complete a form for this medication and sign to give permission for us to give the medication to your child. You must inform us of when your child last took the medication. We can and will only administer the dosage and frequency stated on the prescription label. A record of when this medication is administered will be kept and must be signed by the staff member upon administering and the parent/carer on collection of the child.
We will not, under any circumstances, be able to administer any medications or creams that are passed their expiration date or passed the prescribed time period.
Drugs and Alcohol Use Including Tobacco:
In this instance drugs refers to those other than prescribed medication and over the counter painkillers and antihistamines.
Staff:
No staff member at Bubbles will come to work under the influence of alcohol. Alcohol will not be consumed on site by any person during operating hours. Any Alcohol kept on site will be stored securely out of reach of children.
Staff are not permitted to smoke or vape anywhere on site or in any vehicles used for business purposes at any time. Staff must not come to work smelling of smoke. No smoking products or paraphernalia are permitted on site.
No staff member at Bubbles will come to work under the influence of drugs. No drugs or paraphernalia are permitted on site.
Parents and Carers:
Parents are not permitted to smoke or bring any smoking products or paraphernalia on site.
Parents must not arrive to drop off or collect children when under the influence of alcohol. Parents who are clearly intoxicated when arriving to collect a child will not be permitted to take the child from our care. We will deal with this as a safeguarding issue, please refer to our safeguarding policy. If you have driven to drop off a child to our setting and are under the influence of alcohol we will deal with this as a safeguarding issue and we will contact the police. Parents attending any show around sessions, settle in sessions or meeting with staff will be refused entry should they arrive intoxicated.
The above conditions also apply to any parents using drugs. Should we suspect drug abuse in the home of a child attending Bubbles we will treat this as a safeguarding issue, please see our safeguarding policy.
