Please email Mrs Cheryl Crowley for assistance with your child's medical needs. You are very welcome to also speak to your child’s Tutor or Head of House to discuss medical needs. We are always available to help with any situation.

If your child has a medical condition or requires medication to be kept on themselves, or in the school office, please fill out a health care plan.

If your child has any type of physical or mental health condition, allergy or intolerance, please ensure you inform us of the situation as soon as you can so that we are able to help and support your child should it be necessary during school time. You are welcome to discuss the situation directly with your child’s tutor or Head of House, and then please ensure that you fill in a Health Care Plan form so that we have all the up-to-date, accurate details.

The form can be found on our school website (above) or by emailing the school’s Medical Administrator. The form can be filled in online and returned to the school digitally. The form will then be stored in your child’s online file.

Please note that we treat all medical information with the strictest confidence.

Please note that if your child has an SEN pupil passport at Balcarras and also a medical condition, we would still require a separate Health Care Plan to be filled in.

Medication – kept in school:

For some pupils it will be important that medication is kept in school. If you would like us to keep medication in school for your child, please ensure you have filled in all the relevant details on the Health Care Plan, and please bring the medication to the main school office. The medication will be stored in your child’s file in the school office, together with their Health Care Plan (there is also a facility to keep medication refrigerated in the school office, if required). If the medication is required, pupils are able to come to reception.

At Balcarras, we can only keep prescribed medication which is in-date and supplied in its original container as dispensed by the pharmacist with the dispensing label intact, including instructions for administration, dosage and storage.

Please contact us as soon as the medication requirements change, and please collect the medication once it is out of date.

If the medication is no longer required by your child or your child leaves Balcarras, please come into the school to collect the medication and adjust the Health Care Plan accordingly.

Medication – kept by the pupil:

Where a parent/guardian allows a pupil to carry their own medication, we expect them to accept full responsibility. We would also require a Health Care Plan which states that the pupil is carrying their own medication.

If a pupil becomes unwell whilst in school, they can speak to their teacher/tutor or another member of staff, and they will be asked to go to reception or have someone accompany them if necessary. They can wait in the reception area or in the medical room (for more privacy) until they feel better.

If necessary, the receptionist will phone the contacts given to us for the pupil to be collected from school (please ensure you keep the school updated with any change in contact information). In this instance, the Head of House will be required to give permission for the pupil to leave school. Pupils will not be able to leave the school site without a parent/guardian giving permission over the phone. If necessary, we might require you to come and collect the pupil.

If a pupil requires pain relief during school time, they can speak to their teacher/tutor or another member of staff and then go to reception where they will be given a paracetamol tablet (or two tablets for students in Sixth Form). The reception team will then email the students' parent/guardian to inform them of the time they had the paracetamol. 

We also store generic one-a-day antihistamine for those that are in need during the school day. An email will also be sent to a parent/guardian when a student has been given one. 

In order to do this, we require written permission from parents/guardians in advance. Please ensure you check the box on the data collection sheet you fill in when your child first joins Balcarras to give your consent for your child to be given paracetamol/antihistamine. 

Please ensure you continue to keep us updated throughout the school year on any medical conditions, however small, so that we always have the correct information and medication and are prepared for any kind of school trip.

School trips are booked and paid for via our ScoPay system. When you fill in a school trip form, there will be a box where you can indicate if your child requires their medication for that particular trip. If your child does require medication, we will ask that you ensure the child arrives for their trip with the medication on them (this applies also to students for whom we store medication at school, staff will not be collecting this medication for the trip). We also ask you to please ensure that all medication provided for the trip is on-date.

If you have indicated on your ScoPay trip form that your child does require medication for that trip, we will ask your child on arrival that they have it. Unfortunately, if they don't, they will not be able to go on the trip.

The NHS immunisation team come into Balcarras a few times a year to administer recommended vaccinations for students. Parents/guardians are always contacted prior to these dates and given a consent form where they can opt in or out to have their child vaccinated. The NHS team are always happy to talk to parents to answer any questions and, where necessary, arrange vaccinations to be done outside of school at community clinics, if necessary.

On vaccination day in school, the students will be called from their classes by tutor group (which we will inform them of in advance). Vaccinations will take place in a classroom in school and be administered by the NHS nurses. A member of Balcarras staff will be on hand throughout the day to help with the students and nurses will be available for any student feeling anxious or unwell. Parents will always be contacted if a student feels unwell after a vaccination. 

If you would like to contact the NHS immunisation team, please email the team, and they will be more than happy to assist you. 

Please find below current planned dates for the academic year 2024/25 for the NHS to provide vaccinations to students that have parental consent.

• Flu Vaccine - Y7 - Y711: 12th, 13th and 14th December 2024 - online consent form have been emailed to all parents, please contact cc@balcarras.gloucs.sch.uk if you have not received yours
• HPV 1st Dose - Y8: 27th February 2025 - forms will be issued nearer time
• Men/DTP/ACWY - Y9: 8th April 2025 - forms will be issued nearer the time