Health and Safety

Behavior and Discipline

The ethos of Lower Primary is to foster effective learning and to shape positive patterns of behavior for all of our students. We do this by providing an appropriate curriculum for all students, and involving them in discussions about the importance of our character development SLR and the value of being a positive contributor to the classroom community. These discussions happen in lessons and throughout the school day. We want each of our students to develop a genuine feeling of belonging to the school, and the associated feelings of self-esteem.

At the start of each school year, every class works out classroom rules. These will be specific to each class. Students’ positive behavior is reinforced by teachers in a variety of ways to help students internalize the value in behaving appropriately. As students mature and develop, we hope to foster intrinsic motivation rather than motivation based on praise and reward.

Four Bees

Students, faculty and staff are expected to uphold these values: Safety, Kindness, Respect, and Responsibility, to ensure teaching and learning are the primary focus and to allow students every opportunity to excel.

While consistency is a key component when managing student behavior, it is understood that each case is unique. Should students make inappropriate choices on the playground, in the classroom or elsewhere on HKIS property or while on school buses, a reflective conversation will be held in order to support the growth of each child. The reflective conversation will revolve around the Four Bees and students may complete a reflection sheet that will be signed by parents to ensure school-home communication is addressed.

Health Office

The divisional Health Offices at Hong Kong International School offer professional health services, knowledge, care and support to students, faculty and staff. They play a vital role in the promotion of health and well being. Each division has its own dedicated school nurse.

The Lower Primary (LP) health office is located at our Repulse Bay campus on the first floor near the main LP administration office area in room 107. Our nurses are on duty from 7:30 a.m.- 3:30 p.m. The LP health office telephone numbers are 2812-5117 and 2812-5226. The health office email is lpsnurse@hkis.edu.hk.

The objectives of the LP health office are the following:

• Offer first aid and assistance to children who become ill or injured at school.
• Authorize and arrange for children to be sent home in cases of illness or injury.
• Dispense medications needed during the school day.
• Maintain health records and assist in the overall health program.
• Monitor and communicate spread of communicable diseases.
• Monitor and communicate AQHI (pollution) levels.
• Supervise readmission of children to school after major illnesses,communicable disease or injury.
• Offer vision and hearing screenings.

Health Information and Forms

All students new to HKIS must submit:

• Physical Examination Form, to be completed and signed by a medical doctor within the last six months.
• “Family” information under the Demographic Updates section of PowerSchool. Please ensure this is kept current at the beginning of every school year or when any changes occur.

All mandatory health forms (Student Health Information, Allergy Information and Medication Administration Consent forms) can be found and completed in PowerSchool. Exception: Physical Examination (PE) form. Please download the PE form from PowerSchool Forms, print it, have it completed by your child’s physician, and then upload a scan or photo of the completed and signed form into the PowerSchool mandatory forms section: “4: New Student Physical Examination Form”.

All returning students to HKIS must submit:

• “Family” information under the Demographic Updates section of PowerSchool. Please ensure this is kept current at the beginning of each school year, or when any changes occur.

Emergency Contact Information

The Family information in the demographics section of PowerSchool must be completed online for each child at the beginning of every school year. The information on this form is very important. It has emergency contact numbers, information about allergies/medical conditions, consent to medication and authorizations for hospital care. Please remember to update information on this form as changes occur, since teachers and the nurse refer to it throughout the year.

Medication During School Hours

Our school nurses may not dispense any medication without parental consent. Students are not allowed to carry any medication with them during school hours except for Epi/Jext Pens, diabetic kits and asthma inhalers. If your doctor prescribes a medication that must be taken during school hours, you must complete and submit a Medication Administration Consent form, found in PowerSchool Forms.

Students who use Epi/Jext Pens: Parents will supply two pens to the LP health office in case of emergencies. Please check all medication expiration dates before submission. If your child requires Epi/Jet Pens at school please fill out an Allergy Information Form and Medication Administration Consent form, found in PowerSchool Forms.

Medical Policies and Guidelines

If your child should become ill during school hours, you will be contacted to make arrangements for him or her to be taken home as soon as possible. A doctor's note is required following an absence of four or more consecutive school days, stating the child is well enough to return to school, and whether there are any physical restrictions. If your child has a contagious disease and illness, please contact the school nurse, who will advise you on the procedures about returning to school.

Students will either be sent home, or should stay home, if they experience any of these conditions:

• Fever: Students with a temperature of 37.5°C or 99.5°F or greater should not return to school until they have been fever free for 48 hours, without the benefit of fever-reducing medications such as Panadol and Ibuprofen.
• Vomiting and Diarrhea: Students with vomiting due to illness or diarrhea should not return to school until 24 hours after the last episode of vomiting or diarrhea. The student needs to be asymptomatic for 24 hours without the use of medication.
• Influenza: Students should not return to school until fully recovered or advised by a doctor AND until 48 hours fever free, in accordance with the fever policy.
• Impetigo: Students should not return to school until 24 hours after antibiotic treatment and affected areas are covered.
• Acute Conjunctivitis: Commonly known as “pink eye,” which is contagious, students should not return to school until being seen by a doctor, prescribed eye drops have been used for 24 hours and abnormal eye secretions have resolved.
• Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease: Students should not return to school until all open sores have healed and as advised by a doctor.
• Scarlet Fever/Strep Throat: Students should not return to school until 24 hours after antibiotic treatment AND until 48 hours fever free, in accordance with the fever policy.
• Chickenpox: Students should not return to school for five days or until all open sores have healed AND until 48 hours fever free in accordance with our fever policy, AND as advised by a doctor.
• Head Lice: Lice can be highly communicable and difficult to prevent, but if every parent takes the responsibility to check the entire family periodically, these parasites can be prevented, detected early and controlled. If live lice are found during school hours the student will be sent home. The student should not return to school until all live lice have been removed. The nurse will check the student for lice and nits before the student is allowed to return to class.
• Any Potential Contagious Illness: If your child has been asked to rule out a contagious illness by the school or further information is needed, a doctor's note of clarification may be required.

Child Vaccinations

It is important to ensure your child's vaccinations are up to date according to the vaccination schedule recommended by the Department of Health, Hong Kong. If your child was born outside Hong Kong the vaccination schedule may differ slightly; we recommend that you direct any questions to your local medical doctor.

HKIS joins the childhood immunisation school outreach campaigns provided by the School Immunization Teams (SIT) under the Centre for Health Protection of the Department of Health. Each year, the SIT will visit the school to provide immunization for Grade 1 students. For any missing vaccines, you could contact the School Immunization Teams (SIT) at 26158585.

They could arrange vaccinations for your child at their SIT clinics but booking an appointment in advance is required.

Air Quality Health Index (AQHI)

The Hong Kong Environmental Protection Department uses the Air Quality Health Index (AQHI) to advise the public about day-to-day risks associated with air pollution. The nurse checks the AQHI regularly throughout the day and advises when the levels reach 6, 8 or 10 and above, so appropriate measures can be taken.

HKIS uses the following benchmarks:

• AQHI levels 1-5 at Eastern Station: No restriction on student activities.
• AQHI levels 6-7 at Eastern Station: Students with asthma will be kept indoors.
• AQHI levels 8-10 at Eastern Station: There will be indoor recess and PE for all LP students.
• AQHI levels 10+ at Eastern Station: All outside activities are cancelled. Indoor PE activities will be modified for all students. All outside after school activities will be cancelled.

Nut-Aware/Nut-Free Policy
Lower Primary is a Nut-Aware/Nut-Free Zone

As part of the safety measures at HKIS, Lower Primary adheres to a total Nut-Aware/Nut-Free policy throughout the entire campus. This includes food at school-related activities. Parents and children need to be mindful of any products containing nuts when preparing lunches or snacks. Parents of children who historically have suffered an anaphylactic reaction to any foods or insect bites need to provide the school with an updated Allergy Information form located in PowerSchool Forms.

This policy is for all Lower Primary students, due to the ages and level of responsibility in the early years of education, in order to keep everyone safe in the building.

We expect all members of the LP community to adhere to the following guidelines:

Do NOT send any of the following items to school:

• Nut products.
• Foods cooked in peanut/tree nut (almond) oil.
• Spread containing nuts (peanut butter, Nutella).
• Muesli bars, biscuits or other products listing nuts as an ingredient.
• Packages of mixed fruit (trail mix) containing nuts.
• Recycled containers that may have contained nuts (cereal boxes, peanut butter jars, biscuits or cookies).
• Food items with labels stating “processed in a facility that also processes nuts” or “may contain nuts”.

Please also remember:

• All students with moderate to severe nut allergies are required to have an Epi/ Jext pen in the health office.
• Do not use nut ingredients if preparing food for a special school event (birthday cake, cultural food, sports day picnic, field trips).
• Do not apply lotions, creams, lip balms, etc. that have nut derivatives as ingredients (e.g. almond oil).
• If your child eats a nut product for breakfast (peanut butter on toast), washing hands and brushing teeth before arriving at school will reduce the chance of exposing an allergic child to a nut allergen (on the bus, bathrooms, playground).
• Inform helpers and grandparents/family members of LP Nut-Aware/Nut-Free policy.

If your child has any food allergies, intolerances or sensitivities consider bringing home lunch.

Please know, while we will do our best to monitor and enforce these parameters and food rules, there are occasions when mistakes are made and nut products enter our school. Along with these parameters and food rules, we encourage you to teach self- advocacy skills to your child if he/she has an allergy.

Pets in School

In the interest of maintaining a safe and healthy school environment for our students, we discourage the practice of having family pets visit classrooms to reduce student exposure to allergens. Welfare of the children and animals is also a concern, as classroom visits that may expose the animal to an unfamiliar setting with a large number of students may lead to unpredictable behavior. Any exceptions to this policy must be approved by the principal or associate principal.

Phone-Free Zone Policy

In order to model the value of learning in our community, Lower Primary at HKIS i sa Phone-Free Zone. We acknowledge this can be challenging, but it is at the core of our educational philosophy.

We want our students, your children, to know they are important, and that their learning is valuable. We also know that children learn by watching the behaviors of the adults around them. So we teach them they are valuable, that their learning matters, by giving them our focused, phone-free attention. For example, parent experiences and activities such as learning celebrations, field trips, and mystery reading should be focused on the connection between parent and child. We want our adults to walk throughout the building not looking at mobile phones or devices, but instead model to students how to be mindful of their environment.

Phone-Free Zone etiquette means:

• We ask parents and guests to put phones away when in the presence of children on campus.
• Should the need arise, please use your phone only in spaces designated for adults, which includes our lobby area or outside the main entrance. There are seating areas in both. Should you need to make an emergency call, please ask our receptionist if a private space is available.

What about cameras? Guided by the classroom teacher, photography and filming are welcomed. Photography and filming at school-wide events, however, is strongly discouraged, as it interferes with the experience of other families and distracts students from sharing their hard work. Please refer to the photography guidelines in HKIS's Social Media Policy (Policy 3180, available onDragonNet).