Principals have an over-arching responsibility to ensure students with type 1 diabetes can participate fully in their education.
This involves ensuring school staff are appropriately supported and trained to help a student with their type 1 diabetes management. Students with type 1 diabetes should be given the same opportunity as any other student to fully participate at school. They just need a little extra support and forward planning. Schools and school staff have a legal obligation to ensure a student doesn’t experience discrimination because of their type 1 diabetes. It’s also a requirement that schools take the necessary action to support a student to participate in all aspects of school life, in the same way as their peers. Principals are ultimately responsible for ensuring the school provides appropriate support.
Principals play a critical role to:
- ensure the school has a type 1 diabetes policy in place and keeps a current diabetes management plan on hand for the student;
- make sure that students with type 1 diabetes can participate fully in their education, including physical activities, excursions and camps;
- provide training opportunities to all school staff, but especially staff are designated as being responsible for the care of a student with type 1 diabetes while at school.
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Training for school staff
All school staff should have a basic understanding of type 1 diabetes.
Designated staff should be trained in a student’s individual Diabetes Management Plan so they can provide specific support. Trained school staff will know how to identify a low and a high and help the student with monitoring glucose and administering insulin if they need it.
Our Principal, Mr. Kidd, encouraged staff to undertake training to support a student with type 1 diabetes at school
