The safety of students, staff, parents and visitors is our main concern at HD Ningbo School. Our aim is to have robust security and safety practices in place in order to minimise any risk of harm to our children, community and facilities.

Entry to the School is through the main gate where school security staff are always on duty to monitor who enters the School. Visitors must show their Pick-Up card, or they will be asked to sign in and be given a Visitor Pass on entry. Pick-up cards or Visitor Passes must be worn at all times on the School premises. Any person wandering the campus or buildings without a pass will be stopped by security staff or teachers and escorted to the security office where a pass will be issued if the visitor has legitimate business. All visitors must report to security at the gate and then go to reception to be directed to the appropriate room. Parents and ayis are not permitted to wander the buildings or visit classes without an appointment. No person should arrive at reception expecting to visit senior management or teaching staff without a prior appointment.

The well-equipped Medical Room is open from 8.00am – 17.00pm every day. Our qualified nurses are always on hand to deal with injuries or illness and will update parents where necessary of any treatment administered. When the nurse feels a student needs to return home, or be taken to hospital, parents will be informed and asked to make the necessary arrangements. 

Our school nurses are able to assist children if they must take medication at school. Please note the following guidelines:

• Medicine will only be administered between 8.15am - 15.45pm and will be returned to parents at the end of each day.
• Students will not be given over-the-counter drugs unless the school nurses have the express permission of the student’s parents.
• Written instructions from a parent or guardian must accompany any medication before it will be administered by the school nurse.
• All medication should be legibly dated and labelled with the child’s name, the name of the medication, the dosage amount and frequency.
• All medication must be in its original container with a child-proof cap. It should be placed in a Ziploc bag with the appropriate syringe or measuring cup needed for administering the medicine.
• School personnel are prohibited from using force to administer medicine. If a child refuses to take the medication, parents will be notified.
• Parents must inform the School if their child has specific allergies and must provide the appropriate medication. Two EpiPens must be provided for the School if a child has an allergy that will cause anaphylactic shock – one for the medical room and one for the classroom.

Students are encouraged to spend break and lunch times playing outside. To protect their skin against harmful UV radiation, children need to wear a hat if they are outside – preferably the HD School cap.

HFMD: Should one or two students become infected in the same week, the school will report to the Education Bureau to ask about isolating the class.

Other infectious diseases, eg Scarlet Fever or Chicken Pox: The School will report to the Education Bureau about the level of infection. The Education Bureau will advise on whether or not the class needs to be put into isolation. 

Preventative Measures to be taken by the School:

Classes in which there are infected students will be isolated from other classes in the school until the infected students have recovered and returned to school;

Morning check of students, classroom disinfection and ventilation;

The school nurses maintain close contact with the Disease Control Centre and the Education Bureau.

Air pollution level readings will be taken from the Environmental Monitoring Centre. The School’s response will be as follows:

• Low          School life carries on as usual;
• Medium    No PE classes are held outside. Breaks and lunchtimes carry on as usual with the choice to stay inside in the library;
• High          PE is held inside. All breaks are held inside as on wet days.

Evacuation procedures and maps are displayed in every classroom. We have regular drills to familiarise the children, teachers and administrative staff with emergency procedures. When the alarm sounds, all parents and visitors in the building are asked to observe the same rules as the children and evacuate buildings immediately, calmly and quietly. Parents are asked not to go to their child’s classroom in the event of an emergency as this could seriously hinder the teacher’s efforts to evacuate the children safely.