It is important that you call the school if your child is absent or arriving late. Please report all absences to the Attendance Line at 403-817-3444 Ext. 1. See more on our Attendance page.

Student Illness or Injury

Normally children who are too ill to go outside for recess are too ill to be at school. Their learning capabilities become limited and often, as with a cold, the illness is spread to others. If a student becomes ill at school, the parent will be contacted to make arrangements for the child to be picked up.

Information from the Alberta Health Services regarding communicable diseases states the following:

• Pink Eye: Students should not attend school until free of symptoms.
• Head Lice: Students should not attend school until treated once with an anti-lice shampoo and nits have been removed.
• Strep Throat: Students should not attend school until treated with antibiotics for 24 hours.

If your child has any specific medical needs, please inform the school so that we can provide the appropriate assistance.

If an accident/injury occurs at school, parents will be contacted.

• A school administrator or teacher will take action to ensure the safety of the student and administer minor first aid.
• If the situation warrants, the parent or guardian will be telephoned and appraised of the situation and asked, if necessary, to come to the school, and advise us of their wishes regarding their child’s injury.
• If we are unable to contact the parent or guardian, the administrator in charge will decide if EMS transport is needed.
• If emergency treatment appears to be necessary 911 will be called and the child will be transported to Emergency at Alberta Children’s Hospital. The parents or guardian will be advised as soon as possible.

Allergies

Northern Lights School is an ‘Allergy Aware’ school.  For each classroom, a sign is posted by the door to inform about any severe allergies that are present in that classroom, 'Allergy Alert' stop signs are posted on individual desks, and Epi-Pen signs hang above backpacks to indicate where emergency medications are contained. We educate all students and staff on how to keep their hands and work surfaces clean of allergens, and offer options for where students with allergens can eat if their parents so choose.  Although we do not ban any food items from the school, many families consider sending alternative food options for their child if a severe allergy to a certain food exists within their child's homeroom class.

There are some students in our school community who have severe or life threatening allergies to various environmental allergens. Peanuts, tree nuts, seafood, animal dander and some fragrances tend to be the most common allergies in our student population. While we are not able to keep our school completely free of these allergens, we strive to be sensitive to these conditions. All of our staff are updated on a yearly basis of these conditions and are aware of the emergency procedures required to deal with these types of allergic reactions.

Please notify the school immediately if your child has a severe allergy. The school will need to have additional information. A Student Health Plan form must be completed. 

Medications

Medication should be administered to children outside of the school hours if at all possible. Should your child need medication at any time at the school, a Student Health Plan form must be signed in the school office. We cannot give children medication without this form, and we have no medications available at the school that are not sent by parents for specific children. All medications sent by families will be kept at and given out in the main office. Medication should be in the original container with your child’s name on it. If you must make other arrangements for storage of the medication (such as asthma puffers), please contact the office and indicate this on the form.