§                To create and maintain a well informed school community, confident in their ability to manage head lice (pediculosis). While head lice do not carry or transmit disease, they cause head itching and scratching, which may lead to infection and swollen lymph glands, hence the need for control.                                               

§                To outline the roles and responsibilities of home and school in the detection, treatment and control of head lice.

§                To document effective treatment and management strategies which are vital, as head lice cannot be eradicated.

§                To ensure that the guidelines represent a systematic, whole community approach, as head lice infections are as much a social issue as they are educational and health issues.

Parent and Carer Responsibilities include:

§                Ensuring that their child does not attend school with untreated head lice.

§                Using safe treatment practices which do not place their child’s health at risk.

It is reasonable to expect that parents and carers will:

§                Regularly (preferably once a week) inspect their child’s hair, using conditioner and a head lice comb to look for lice or lice eggs.

§                Regularly check all household members and treat them as necessary.

§                Notify our school if their child is affected and advise us when treatment has started.

§                Notify parents or carers of their child’s friends so they have the opportunity to treat their own child/ren as necessary.

§                Keep their child at home until the day after appropriate treatment has commenced (Health [Infectious Disease] Regulations 2001).

§                Complete the treatment note and return it to school.

 

School Staff:

The school will be responsible for:

§                The distribution of policies and information on the detection, treatment and control of head lice to parents and staff at the beginning of the year and more frequently as required.

§                Practical advice and an understanding attitude so as to support and avoid stigmatising families who are experiencing difficulty with control measures.

§                Encouraging parents to continue to regularly check their child for head lice. Older children can be taught to use conditioner and a head lice comb to check their own hair.

 

Our school will adopt an integrated and systematic approach to head lice by:

§                Accessing community educational resources and support, such as school nursing.

§                Being aware that the responsibility to exclude a child from school rests with our Principal or his nominee.

§                Being aware that the exclusion of children from school with head lice refers only to those children with live insects and does not refer to head lice eggs.

§                Educating all staff about head lice.

§                Encouraging the development and monitoring of the school’s policy on head lice, in conjunction with School Council.

§                Encouraging children to learn about head lice to help remove stigmatism or teasing associated with head lice.

 

Recommendations:

It is recommended that the following practices be put into place to assist in the effective detection, monitoring and treatment of head lice.

1.              Completion of school policy and presentation to School Council for ratification.

2.              Distribution to all families, of this school policy and relevant head lice information.

3.              Hair checks to be conducted by our trained staff during the  3^rd and 8^th week of each term.

4.              Head lice screening will generally be conducted as late as possible in the school day so that those children affected with live head lice can be excluded with minimal stigma.

5.              All children screened will be provided a note indicating to parents/carers the results of the screening.

6.              Those children affected with live lice and live eggs will require treatment at home as indicated on the note. The treatment note must be completed by parent/carer advising that treatment has commenced and then returned with the child upon his/her return to school. The child will then be re-checked at school by trained staff and if treatment has not commenced the child will be excluded and parents/carers contacted to take the child home.

7.              Standard agreement for parents to sign at the commencement of their child’s schooling at Glen Devon Primary School to allow our trained staff when deemed necessary by our Principal to check their child’s hair for head lice.  This agreement will outline parental responsibilities and expectations in regard to head lice management. This consent will be for the duration of the child’s schooling at Glen Devon Primary School, unless we are otherwise notified in writing by the child’s  parent/carer.

8.              Encouraging all students with hair below collar length to have it tied back.

9.              Advising parents via our School Newsletters  about free services. For example,  head lice treatment is available at Wyndham Health Care at 229 Heaths Road (tel: 9749 2766). Upon  a parent’s presentation of  their Medicare Card at the clinic, the Head Lice Nurse will treat their  child’s hair and make sure it is clear of head lice.