Before the child or young person returns to school or early learning, it is a good idea to hold a meeting between school staff, parents or caregivers and the child's Regional Health School teacher, if they have one.
Information should be provided by the child or young person's parents or caregivers about:
Before the meeting, it is a good idea for school management to talk with teachers who will be working directly with the child or young person. They may have specific concerns which need to be addressed. Consideration should be given to their understanding on the subject and possible emotional reactions to it.
Suggested topics for the meeting include:
Find out more about how to support your student returning to school after cancer treatment [1]
Use this checklist as a guide when a student is about to return to their education setting.
The child or young person's health professional team and parents or caregivers may have handouts with information about the child or young person's illness and treatment.
These should include basic information on:
School staff need to know if a child or young person has been fitted with a central line or any other medical device.
A central line or portacath is a long plastic tube that is inserted, under anesthetic, into a large vein near the heart. Central lines are used to take blood samples and give blood and medicines.
This should include whānau and medical emergency numbers, including the child's GP.
Many schools do not allow students to wear hats in the school building. If a child or young person returns to school and wants to wear a hat because of hair loss, all school stuff must be aware this is acceptable. There may be other changes that need to be made to the school’s dress code due to the child or young person’s circumstances.
It is a good idea for school staff to have access to information about any education the child or young person may have received through their Regional Health School.
Read the Child Cancer Foundation's Checklist for parents/caregivers, whānau and teachers (PDF, 33KB) [2].
The information on this page is based on pages 18 and 19 of the Child Cancer Foundation Return To School booklet for parents/caregivers, whānau and teachers. Read the Return To School booklet (PDF, 2.42MB) [7].
This page last reviewed 01 July 2022.
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Links
[1] https://kidshealth.org.nz/supporting-your-student-returning-school-after-cancer-treatment
[2] https://kidshealth.org.nz/sites/kidshealth/files/pdfs/CCF_Return-to-School-Booklet_A5_2022_v1_WEB%20page%2019%20%282%29.pdf
[3] https://kidshealth.org.nz/sites/kidshealth/files/pdfs/CCF_Return-to-School-Booklet_A5_2022_v1_WEB%20page%2019%20%281%29.pdf
[4] https://childcancer.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/CCF_Return-to-School-Booklet_A5_2022_v1_WEB.pdf
[5] https://kidshealth.org.nz/tags/educators
[6] https://kidshealth.org.nz/tags/whanau
[7] http://childcancer.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/CCF_Return-to-School-Booklet_A5_2022_v1_WEB.pdf
[8] https://kidshealth.org.nz/contact?from=http%3A%2F%2Fkidshealth.org.nz%2Fprint%2F2716%3Flanguage%3Den