Diabetes in schools

The National Child and Youth Clinical Diabetes Network, in consultation and collaboration with consumer representatives, has undertaken significant work looking at available school diabetes health resources across New Zealand, identifying educational gaps and determining specific resources required to support the safe care of children and youth with diabetes in schools.

One of the primary outcomes of this work is the development of a collection of diabetes action and management plans. This collection of documents is intended to provide a formal guide for the consistent care and management of children and young people with diabetes in schools and early childcare organisations.

New camp guidelines have been developed: see Management plan for school camp and Whānau and school checklists .

In addition the Clinical Diabetes Network have created NZQA medical certificate templates for both type 1 diabetes mellitus and type 2 diabetes mellitus treated with insulin, to be used to support 'special assessment condition' applications for students with diabetes.

Diabetes action and management plans

The diabetes action and management plans have been developed by the National Clinical Diabetes Network for use in New Zealand. They are based on current best practice evidence for diabetes care for young people with type 1 diabetes (ISPAD 2018).

These diabetes action and management plans are provided for use in secure PDF format only. The expectation is that they are personalised (filling in name and other details, ticking relevant boxes where indicated) by the family and young person in consultation with the diabetes treating team and the school. The plans are reviewed and updated regularly to reflect any changes in clinical best practice diabetes care.

Download or view a pdf of the following diabetes action and management plans for kindergarten or early childhood settings:

Download or view a pdf of the following diabetes action and management plans for primary and secondary schools:

Questions or comments about the plans are welcome and should be directed to Gilli Lewis at Gilli.Lewis@ccdhb.org.nz

Diabetes and School Camps

It is important that any child with diabetes can fully participate in the school curriculum. This involves school camps and excursions, regardless of whether it is a day event or overnight. For these to be successful, preparation is paramount. The following guideline includes checklists of things that both family and whānau need to consider as well as the school. See the Management plan for school camp and the Whānau and school checklists here.

Exams and Diabetes

Download or view a pdf of the information sheet for young people with diabetes and exams.

For medical certificate templates to be used to support 'special assessment condition' applications for students with diabetes, choose Type 1 Diabetes, or Type 2 Diabetes

For further information on PSNZ / MoH Clinical Network development, please contact Clinical Networks Support Manager, Karyn Sanson, karyn.sanson@paediatrics.org.nz.