School Nurse - Urgent Position

Our Purpose at The Alice Smith School

According to the words of our school song: ‘Soon there were two, who were joined by a few’. Alice Smith started a movement with just two people. That single brave act sparked a positive chain reaction. She inspired other families to join her on her journey, creating a nurturing environment for generations of learners and a home away from home for thousands of families.

In that same vein, we keep the Alice Smith spirit alive by building a nurturing community that encourages our students to explore the world with courage, curiosity and compassion. 

To build a better world together.

Our purpose is embedded through our three strategic pillars:

Our People

We are a diverse collective of experts and curious minds, working together to push the boundaries of education to lead learning for an ever-changing world.

Our Students

We encourage students to explore different paths with courage and curiosity, in an environment that empowers them to make an impact as their best self.

Our World

We are a supportive, connected community that innovates, explores and learns together.

Responsibilities/Duties:

The School Nurse is responsible for overseeing and managing the nursing room facility within our school. This role involves ensuring a safe and supportive environment for our staff and students. The School Nurse will collaborate with various departments to maintain the school as a safe place for our children and will also be a part of the Health & Safety committee.

1. Health & Safety

• Liaise with the Admissions Department to obtain new students’ health records
• Review, monitor and record the health status of all students on entry to school in accordance with the School’s policy
• Monitor/maintain and update student’s medical/health records on school core data based. Supervise the medical room (including care of sick, injured and distressed individuals until better and further care can be arranged with parents, hospital, etc.)
• To coordinate with parents and obtain all the consent forms relating to the student’s health and medication for the purpose of dispensing or administering medicine (e.g. paracetamol)
• To inform and work with teachers to identify students with particular developmental concerns, assess their health status and refer to specialist services where necessary
• Work with parents, carers, specialist health professionals and others to develop, implement and monitor in-school care plans for students with complex health needs and long-term conditions (e.g. asthma, diabetes, epilepsy, anorexia or eating disorders, etc.) to enable them to attend and benefit from school
• To ensure that the medicine provided by parents administered at school is prescribed by a registered physician in compliance with the law
• In special medical cases (e.g. asthmatic, allergies, etc) to communicate with parents who send in their child’s medication (e.g. inhalers) that they need to clearly label them
• To arrange to send sick students home as and when needed
• To maintain records of all accidents and complete the incident report indicating the action that was taken 
• Implement and maintain arrangements for first-aid provision to comply with statutory requirements, including risk assessment to determine sensible and reasonably the total number of first-aid personnel required, the training of first-aiders, maintenance of records, accident reporting arrangements, statutory notices and first-aid boxes
• Advise leaders on the development of health-related policies and preventive or risk reduction programs, addressing specifically identified school needs such as nutrition, physical activity, medical checks, nut allergies, obesity, eating disorders, etc.
• Academic visits – accompany as appropriate to support students
• Provide support in advising trip leads (identifying potential issues on trips from student medical/trip forms)
• Contribute to the development of School emergency/business continuity plans include a response to outbreaks of communicable diseases
• Attend, constructively participate in and prepare reports as required for the School and the Management teams

2. Supporting the Delivery of Pastoral Care

• Devise and implement strategies to ensure that the most vulnerable students and those with particular personal needs/problems (e.g. those with diabetes, those self-harming) are identified and appropriately supported, working with the Pastoral Team or Child Protection Team. 
• Work with staff, parents, carers and pupils to reduce above average absence due to sickness e.g. support work to enable students with long term conditions to self-care in school, supporting programmes for those with school phobias
• Work with teaching staff and the Child Protection Officer to identify and act to safeguard students at risk of or suffering from physical, sexual, emotional abuse or neglect. This will include identifying and referring students at risk or suffering from maltreatment.
• Monitor student visits to the nurse and identify any potential problems and inform the Vice Principal, Student. This role would also be required to analyse data to identify trends for interventions in relation to cohorts and individuals. EG types of injuries and locations of injuries.

3. Health Promotion

• Play an active role in health promotion through the planning, delivery and support of the school health programme

4. Communications

• Advise parents and staff on immunisation programmes and outbreaks of communicable diseases
• Uphold medical confidentiality in line with legal (common law and statutory) duty of confidentiality on students and maintain medical records accurately, confidentially and safely
• Keep records of all accidents to staff/students and visitors

5. Management of Resources

• Ensure that the medical room, facilities and first aid kits throughout the school are maintained to meet the school’s requirements
• Ensure that all dispensed treatment given and all supplies used are recorded; record the dispensing of drugs following drug protocols
• Ensure that all first aid supplies are replenished to meet minimum requirements by regular inspection of stocks and dispensing records

6. Training and Development

• Maintain and improve professional knowledge and competence, keeping up to date with professional, clinical and nursing issues relevant to work in schools
• Provide training, support and advice for teachers and other staff on specific health needs/issues e.g. use of epi-pens, diabetes care, epilepsy, allergies, substance misuse, head lice, eating disorders, self-harm and other mental health issues. This would include usage of devices. 
• Any other duties assigned from time to time as required

Selection Criteria:

Essential: 

• A valid nursing qualification and registered with the Ministry of Health
• Completed a Nursing Degree
• Has a First Aid Certification
• Has Paediatric Nursing experience
• Able to converse in Mandarin

Desirable

• Understands safeguarding within the international school
• Strong communication skills to effectively interact with students, parents and staff
• Experience background in health education initiatives within a school setting

Safe Recruitment Practices:

As a school with a diverse collective of experts, we uphold recruitment protocols that adhere to the highest possible international standards. We conduct thorough pre-employment checks on candidate references and verify qualifications. If you require further information regarding the School's 'Pre-Appointment Checks,' please liaise with our People and Culture representative, as the process may vary for individuals of different nationalities.

We prioritise the careful scrutiny of checks as they are essential in ensuring a safe and secure environment for our students. By maintaining stringent recruitment practices, we aim to provide a nurturing and protected learning environment for all our students.

The duties and responsibilities of this post may vary from time to time according to the changing demands of the school. This job description may be reviewed at the reasonable discretion of the Head of School and school leadership in the light of those changing requirements and in consultation with the post holder.