Head Lice

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Currently under review

We are reviewing this policy for its content and how well the school implements it. To share your comments and rate its implementation, click the "Start your review" button.

Currently under review

We are reviewing this policy for its content and how well the school implements it. To share your comments and rate its implementation, click the "Start your review" button.

Currently under review

We are reviewing this policy for its content and how well the school implements it. To share your comments and rate its implementation, click the "Start your review" button.

Currently under review

We are reviewing this policy for its content and how well the school implements it. To share your comments and rate its implementation, click the "Start your review" button.

Currently under review

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Head Lice

The board of St Joseph's School is responsible for providing a physically and emotionally safe place where risks to health and safety are eliminated or minimised (Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, Education and Training Act 2020). Head lice are a common problem among school-aged children and can affect the whole school community as they are easily spread from one person to another through close head-to-head contact or sharing personal items.

School responsibilities

St Joseph's School aims to prevent and minimise the spread of head lice by:

informing our school community about head lice, including providing educational resources (e.g. not sharing personal items, promoting regular hair checks)
referring families for further advice and treatment (e.g. public health nurse)
sharing notification and treatment information with the families of students who may be affected.

We manage notification of head lice with sensitivity and keep personal information private and confidential.

For more information, see Head Lice | Prevention and treatment guide

Responsibilities of others

We expect everyone at school or school-related activities to take care of their health and notify school staff if they need support.

The Ministry of Health recommends that students with live lice should inform the school and stay away from school until treatment has started. See HealthEd Infectious diseases information and exclusion list .

Parents/Caregivers are primarily responsible for identifying and treating head lice by:

checking student hair regularly for signs of head lice or nits
treating the head lice or nits (e.g. combing and using a head lice shampoo/lotion)
informing the school if their child has head lice so that notification and treatment information can be shared as appropriate.

Release history: Term 3 2025, Term 4 2023, Term 3 2022, Term 4 2020

Keywords: headlice, nits

Topic Number: 421

Last review	Term 1 2025
Topic type	Core