A Note from the Nurse
Update Your Medical Action Plans
Now is a great time to check in with the nurse to see if your child's Medical Action Plan is up to date, and to check whether medications stored at the School have reached their listed expiry date. If your child has had a recent or new diagnosis that requires a Medical Action Plan, please ensure that the Wellness is provided with a copy.
For more information, please email nurse@stmarks.wa.edu.au
Allergy Awareness
We have a number of students with severe nut allergies (anaphylaxis) at St Mark's. We encourage all families to be 'allergy aware' and avoid sending nut-based products (including cashew nuts and peanuts) to School. Anaphylaxis is a potentially life-threatening health condition, and our risk-minimisation strategy needs your support.
Please keep unwell children at home
Thank you to all the families who are helping us keep the School community healthy, by keeping their unwell children at home. It is essential for the health and wellbeing of our whole community - students, staff and parents - that students who are unwell be kept at home.
Healthy WA shared these tips to help prevent the spread of viruses:
- Cover coughs and sneezes with your inner elbow, or use a tissue and throw it in the bin straight away.
- Wash your hands often with soap and water or use antibacterial hand sanitisers, especially after coughing or sneezing.
- Clean surfaces and objects regularly such as doorknobs, keyboards, phones and toys.
- Stay at home and limit your contact with other people.
Learn more about hand hygiene and protecting yourself from viruses such as influenza.
Signs and Symptoms
Common symptoms of a cold include coughing, low-grade fever, a sore throat, sneezing and a blocked or runny nose. Colds are spread through droplets in the air – from coughs or sneezes, for example – and on surfaces.
Influenza, or 'the flu', commonly causes symptoms such as high fever, dry cough, muscle ache and fatigue. Less common symptoms include sore throat and a runny nose. Children may also have abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting. It spreads from person to person through droplets in the air.
What does the WA Department of Health advise?
The WA Department of Health has the following information on their website:
Day care and school staff have a key role in preventing the transmission of diseases in day care and the school environment.
While it is often difficult to prevent the transmission of common respiratory (colds/flu) and gastroenteritis infections that occur, every effort should be made to minimise the spread of infection by encouraging:
- staff and children at school or childcare to stay at home in the early stages of illness as at this stage they can be infectious and shed the virus, bacteria or parasite through coughing, sneezing, contaminating surfaces and personal contact.
- school staff and students who are ill should not to return to work/daycare until they are symptom free if they have a cold or flu and for at least 24 hours if they have had gastroenteritis.
- staff and children at day care, healthcare workers and food handlers who have had gastroenteritis should not return to work until they are symptom free for at least 48 hours.
- parents to seek medical advice if their child has ongoing symptoms of illness.
