The school’s management has developed a series of policy documents to support all families that join  ISF. These policies are provided to give guidance to parents and staff members on how to be responsible for the health and welfare of all children in our care.

This is because at the Islamic Shakhsiyah Foundation, we see all children as an amanah entrusted to us, and hence are a responsibility that should not be taken lightly.

The process of writing school policies involves thorough consultation and rigorous review by  both senior management and staff members before being accepted as policy by the ISF Trustees.

Every academic year, a review of all the policies in collated in the Policy Handbook takes place in April. All staff members are encouraged to participate in the review process and to provide feedback to the Head teacher. The senior management will then make the necessary amendments and inclusions, if necessary.

Summaries of a few of our policies are given below:

Summary of the ISF Health and Safety Policy

The Chief of Trustees and Head teacher of the Islamic Shakhsiyah Foundation accept their responsibility under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and subordinate health and safety legislation and acknowledge the importance of placing health and safety as a priority within school.

It is the policy of this school that its activities are carried out at all times in such a manner as to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety and welfare of all its employees, children and visitors.

In particular the Head teacher will ensure so far as is reasonably practicable, that hazardous areas are identified and the risks assessed, to use safe methods of working and to provide safe equipment, articles and substances and a healthy working environment.

The Chief of Trustees and management of this school will give the highest possible commitment to ensuring the health, safety and welfare of our employees, pupils and visitors and treat health, safety and welfare as a priority issue.

The law states that every employee has a duty to look after their own health and safety whilst at work and that of others who might be affected by their work. The trustees require employees to recognise and accept this responsibility and the duties imposed on them by this policy.

General ISF Medicine Policy

If the First Aider is concerned about the health condition of a child then the parents (emergency contacts) will called in to collect their child, insha Allah.

Prescribed medication

Medicines should only be brought onto the school premises when absolutely necessary and only then should they be stored in a locked medicine cabinet.

The only types of medicines to be taken in under the care of the school are those that are prescribed by a doctor, dentist, nurse prescriber or pharmacist prescriber with a note from the PRESCRIBER explaining the nature of the medication and the necessity of taking the medication during school hours. All Medicines should always be provided in the original container as dispensed by a pharmacist and include the prescriber’s instructions for administration. The school does not the responsibility of administering any anti-biotics as they can be given immediate before and after school timings.

It is the parents’ responsibility to ensure that all medication provided are labelled before the expiry date and that the parents are responsible for the disposable of expired medication.

Parental Responsibilities

Parents should provide full information about their child’s medical needs, including details on medicines their child needs on the admission form. In the rare instance for any medication that needs to be administered to a child, the consent of only one parent is required, along with a written note from the GP. Parents must also sign a Parental Consent form in the office.  

Other medicines that require regular intakes, such as anti-biotics must be given outside school hours. There fore, for example, the parents can give an antibiotic dose at 9am in the morning and then give the next dose at 3pm at home-time.

Only long term medicines which are necessary for particular medical conditions i.e. asthma, where children have been advised to have an inhaler with them at all times, should be sent into school and administered within school hours. For such long term medicines such as the EpiPen  and Hydro-Cortizone tablets, a Medical Doctor’s note is required with an action plan/written instructions on how to administer the treatment. In addition, a school permission form will have to be signed by the parents to authorise the school to administer the treatment on their behalf. This is only necessary if the treatment cannot be delayed until home time.

In such cases, parents must provide the following information along with the correct medication:

     The child’s name

     Prescribed dose

     Expiry date

     Written instructions provided by the prescriber on the label or container.
 

Absence due to illness

Please note that it is the responsibility of the parents to notify the school by 10am if the child is absent from school due to illness on the same day.  If the child misses two days due to illness then a written note must be sent into the school upon the child’s return.  If the absence caused by illness prolongs for more than two days, then a note must be signed by the doctor certifying the illness.However, failure to inform the school about illness will result in the absence being marked as unauthorised in the attendance register.

ISF Asthma Policy

At the beginning of each school year or when a child joins the school, parents are asked if their child has any medical conditions including asthma on their enrolment form.

All parents of children with asthma are subsequently sent an Asthma UK School Asthma Cardto give to their child’s doctor or asthma nurse to complete. Parents are asked to return them to the school. From this information the school keeps its asthma register, which is available to all school staff. School Asthma Cards are then sent to parents of children with asthma on an annual basis to update. Parents are also asked to update or exchange the card for a new one if their child’s medicines, or how much they take, changes during the year.

Important:

Please:

• inform the school of any changes to your child’s asthma (for example, if their symptoms are getting worse or they are sleeping badly due to their asthma)
• ensure your child’s reliever inhaler (and spacer where relevant) is labelled with their name
• provide the school with a spare reliever inhaler labelled with your child’s name
• ensure that your child’s reliever inhaler and the spare is within its expiry date
• keep your child at home if they are not well enough to attend school or if they need more than 4 puffs at any given time
• ensure your child catches up on any school work they have missed.

By law, ISF school staff are not required to administer asthma medicines to pupils, except in an emergency in which case, the First Aider will give the inhaler to the child.

Summary of the First Aid Policy

The Chief of Trustees and the Head teacher of the School accept their responsibility under the Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981 and acknowledge the importance of providing First Aid for employees, children and visitors within the School.

The Chief of Trustees and Head teacher are committed to the procedure for reporting accidents and recognise their statutory duty to comply with the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR).

The School’s arrangements for carrying out the policy include nine key principles.

1.     Places a duty on the Chief of Trustees and the Head teacher to approve, implement and review the policy.

2.     Place individual duties on all employees.

3.     To report, record and where appropriate investigate all accidents.

4.     Record all occasions when first aid is administered to employees, pupils and visitors.

5.     Provide equipment and materials to carry out first aid treatment.

6.     Arrange to provide training to employees, maintain a record of that training and review annually.

7.     Establish a procedure for managing accidents in school, which require first aid treatment.

8.     Provide information for employees on the arrangements for first aid.

9.     Undertake a risk assessment of the first aid requirements of the School.

Summary of the ISF Attendance Policy

As a school we aim to:

·         Maintain an attendance rate of a minimum of 95%

·         Maintain parents’ and children’ awareness of the importance of regular attendance through good communication and co-operation.

·         Record and monitor the punctuality and attendance of pupils for both the morning and afternoon sessions on to the KSM online system.

·         The KSM register will record whether a pupil is present, engaged in an approved educational activity off site or absent.

·         If a pupil is absent the register must record whether the absence was authorisedor unauthorised.

·         To develop a range of effective strategies to follow up intermittent and long term absenteeism and promote good attendance

Parents can help us by:

·         Keeping requests for their child to be absent to a minimum

·         Ringing the school office on the first morning of all absences with the reason and saying when the child will return

·         Arranging dental and doctor’s appointments out of school hours or during school breaks

·         Sending in a note explaining the reason for absence on their child’s return to school after an illness

·         Keeping us updated by telephone or letter if their child has an extended period of absence due to illness

·         To take family holidays (for example, for a wedding abroad etc.) during school holiday periods and be aware that requests for holidays during term time will be refused except in special /exceptional circumstances (such as a death in the immediate family).

Please contact the school office for more details on the Attendance policy.

Summary of the Punctuality and Lateness Policy for Parents

• You should ensure that the children arrive on time, properly dressed, with the school bag and lunch-box and in a fit state to benefit from the education offered to them.

·         Morning registration is at 8.50-9.00am. This is the time your child must be in the line in the classroom, so you need to ensure your child is coming through the school gate by 8.50am. 

·          It is important to be on time as the first few minutes of the school day are often used to give out instructions or organise schoolwork for the rest of the day.

·         Morning Assembly begins at 9.00am as a time of collective worship recite Qur’an and dua’s, to discuss the naseehah of the week and to mention any important notices.

·          If your child misses this short but vital session, their work for the whole day may be affected.  Late arrivals are disruptive to the whole assembly and often embarrassing for your child. We take the view there are no late children, only late parents. 

·         Arrival after the close of registration may be marked as unauthorised absence in line with the DCfS guidance.

·         We will let you know if we have concerns about your child’s punctuality.

·         Children who remain uncollected at the end of school time will be referred to a place of safety if not collected or the school contacted by school closing time.