Health and Safety

The health and safety of the children is of highest importance.

Health

When young children are unwell, they will probably be best looked after at home. Keeping sick children at home can also help to limit the spread of contagious illnesses. Parents are asked to notify the school before 8.30 when their child is too sick to attend school.

A child may be considered to be sick when:

  • He/She has a fever (≥38,5 degrees)
  • He/She has a contagious (childhood) illness such as chickenpox or scarlet fever.
  • He/She has one or more of the following symptoms:
    1. Continuous vomiting
    2. Diarrhea
    3. Side effects from vaccinations (weepy, listless, generally not well) .

We kindly request that parents keep their child at home for 24 hours after having a fever and after having vomited.

We are unable to administer medication in the preschool.

If a child becomes unwell during the school day, then we will contact the parents to discuss the situation. We may request that the parents pick up their child from school when:

  • The child is too sick to join in the daily activities, such as playing outside
  • The care of the child’s health is too intensive for the teachers to be able to care for the rest of the class.
  • The child’s health could be considered to affect the health of the other children as well as his
    own.

The school ensures that there are always staff with qualified first aid status on the premises while the children are present. The school has protocols for dealing with allergic reactions, seizures and bites.

Safety

All staff, interns and volunteers are checked by the Dutch authorities and have to provide a Verklaring Omtrent het Gedrag (Good Conduct check) before they may work in the preschool.

The preschool has a Child Protection Statement and the HSV has an organisation-wide Child Protection Policy, which is available on request.  The preschool and Lighthouse Special Education also have an Intimate Care Policy.

The school is inspected annually by an external organisation for health and safety risks. The GGD also reviews this inspection report and makes its own annual inspection of policies and practice in the preschool.