St Vincent School for the Deaf

POLICY OF DEALING WITH INJURED AND SICK CHILDREN

(a)

The school and, by implications, the teachers and other staff, are responsible for the safety and well-being of all pupils for the entire duration of the time they are at school and on the school property i.e. from the moment they are dropped off at the school at the start of the day or week till they are picked up afterwards.

This means that children may not be left unsupervised in a classroom, on the playground or at sports activity.

Legally, teachers are not held responsible for injuries sustained by pupils unless the teacher has been negligent. Broadly speaking a teacher would be regarded as being negligent if the injury occurred whilst the pupil was in the teacher’s care and the teacher left the child unsupervised and if the teacher did not act as a responsible person would have acted in the circumstances.

(b)

If a child is injured at school the principal, or senior staff member on duty and the school nurse must be informed.  The school nurse will try to get in touch with the parents in order to arrange medical treatment and/or transport to the child’s home or hospital.  If the parent cannot be contacted the school nurse/principal/teacher on duty should arrange for the appropriate medical treatment.  In the case of indigent pupils the child must receive treatment at the nearest provincial hospital.  Other children, whose parents can afford treatment, should be taken to their family doctor or the nearest medical practitioner.

In an emergency the child should be taken to the casualty section of the Rosebank Clinic / Johannesburg Hospital as quickly as possible.  We are linked to an Ambulance service, so our Security Guard at the gate can press his panic button to summons an ambulance for us.

(c)

Whenever a child sustains an injury at school, the teacher under whose care the child was at the time must complete an incident report form (obtainable from the school nurse) and submit it within 24 hours to the principal.  Full statements and reports should accompany the report by eyewitnesses (pupils and staff), any further evidence and a full statement by the teacher concerned.

(d)

Pupils who become sick during the school day should be sent to the school nurse who will arrange for them to be accommodated in the sick room until such time as they are fetched by their parents.  It is of utmost importance that the office has the correct telephone numbers to contact the parents / guardians.

(e)

SUSPICION OF CHILD ABUSE

Teachers are legally obliged to report all cases of child abuse. The procedure is as follows:

If a teacher notices any suspicious injury or hears any report of inappropriate discipline, sexual misconduct, emotional abuse or excessive injuries inflicted outside the school, report the matter as soon as possible to the Principal, the School Nurse or the Psychologist. All reports will remain confidential.

The Principal, Psychologist and School Nurse will keep confidentiality, will notify all the relevant authorities and will refer the child and parents for psychological help.

Under no circumstances should the Teacher approach parents alone, as a specialist’s approach is required, and there could be serious legal implications for the Teacher.