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1.
Medical
needs in schools:
There is a
need for a change in legislation in Wales to introduce a statutory
duty of care for children with medical needs in schools. There is
an opportunity to include this within the newly proposed Additional
Learning Needs (ALN) Framework.
The Welsh
Government’s proposed ALN Framework documentation states that
children with medical needs will not be covered by the ALN Bill
(see page 30 of the draft ALN Code of Practice).
We ask the
Committee to consider the inclusion of medical needs in the
Additional Learning Needs Framework.
The current
guidance framework for the management of medical conditions in a
school setting differ in Wales and England. In England, the
Children and Families Act 2014 came into force on 1 September 2014.
Section 100 contains a statutory duty to support pupils with
medical conditions, meaning that in practice schools
must make additional arrangements for supporting
pupils at schools with medical conditions.
The legislation does not apply to schools in Wales. The
rights of children and young people with medical needs in Wales
during the school day are not protected in law to the same level as
children in England. The current system in Wales puts
children with medical conditions in Wales at an academic
disadvantage in comparison to their peers in England and does not
protect them whilst they are at school. We regularly receive
enquiries from families of children whose attendance, attainment
and overall educational experiences are compromised because of
their condition and the lack of guaranteed support from the current
framework. It is vital that children are kept safe and
healthy whilst they are learning to enable them to achieve their
full potential.
Providing
support to children and young people with medical conditions to
enable them to participate in all aspects of school life requires a
co-ordinated effort. As a patient organisation, we represent
the views of families affected by migraine. The support given
to children with migraine in schools is inconsistent. Many
find that their condition is not understood and has a negative
impact on their education.
Children with migraine take an average between 32 days and 3 months
off from school due to their migraine compared to the general
population who take between 3-13days off (Abu-Arafeh, Headache
Disorders – not respected and not resourced – 2010).
This can have a knock on effect on a young sufferer’s
education and performance, educational attainment, confidence,
behavioural problems and their ability to make friends. No
child’s education should suffer as a result of their health
condition.
We ask the Committee to consider the current situation and ask
whether there is a need to bring the rights, support and protection
provided to children and young people living with migraine in Wales
in line with those in England?
There is currently a unique and rare legislative opportunity to do
this during this Government’s legislative
programme.
We welcome the
Chair of the Committee, Lynne Neagle AM’s comments to the
First Minister on 28th June 2016:
I do believe
that the Welsh Government has a unique opportunity here, given the
unprecedented cross-party support that there is for this
legislation, to actually make a difference to children and young
people’s lives. The children and young people’s
committee scrutinised the draft Bill and responded to the
legislation, and one of the key concerns we had was that the draft
Bill didn’t do enough to actually tie in the health service.
We all know from our own casework that that is absolutely
fundamental—the connection between health and
education.
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