Whole school procedures

The senior leadership team should ensure that:

• All staff are committed to supporting sensory, physical and medical needs in school.
  
  
• Risk assessments are completed when required, for example for access to the building, school trips etc.
  
  
• The school encourages and supports a team approach to support sensory, physical and medical needs. In particular: 
  
  
  • Staff are given encouragement and opportunities to discuss concerns, problem solve and provide support both practically and emotionally to each other.
    
    
  • There are planned opportunities for key staff to share good practice with staff from other schools.
    
    
  • Senior staff actively promote and facilitate these networking and mentoring opportunities.
    
    
• Care plans are in place when the level of need requires and are reviewed at least annually.  Generic care plans are available for more common conditions such as mild epilepsy and asthma.  School staff ensure that care plans meet individual needs. Young Epilepsy has just launched a free online guide for schools on supporting young people with epilepsy. This guide provides information on supporting young people with epilepsy to ensure they are safe and included in all aspects of school life.You can access the online guide here: www.youngepilepsy.org.uk/guideforschools.
  
  
• Training can be planned for specific conditions when required.  This is available from the mainstream school nursing team, (contact zoe.warren2@mpft.nhs.uk) , HI and VI Service (contact elaine.harlin@staffordshire.gov.uk ), the NDCS and RNIB.