Keeping Warm in Winter
Supporting students with Sickle Cell in the winter.
Clinicians advise patients with sickle cell disease to dress warm and avoid extremes of temperature especially in cold weather. This is based on evidence that more red blood cells undergo sickling with temperature changes.
How can schools help?
- Students might need to keep coats and hats on if the classrooms are cold or draughty. Please make sure that teachers are aware that there is a medical reason for this!
- Make arrangements for interesting indoor activities for your sickle cell students during break and lunch times. Let them have a friend or two to play a game with, it can be really miserable being the odd one out if everyone else is outside playing football.
- Consider alternative options for PE sessions. Being left out can be difficult, but if school makes the option for an indoor PE activity or an interesting alternative this can take the sting out of missing out.
- Ask the parent / carer or SENCO if you need more information on specific students, and remember often the best person to ask will be the student themselves.
Check out our informative video clips on sickle cell disease.
Well at School aims to provide information, advice and resources for everyone working with children and young people who are affected by a medical or a mental health condition. We also provide up to date information and practical strategies from our school staff, medical staff and students.
This will be of particular interest to:
- Teachers in mainstream and special schools
- Teaching assistants
- SENCOs
- Voluntary organisations
- Staff working in extended school provision
- Pupil Referral Units
- School Governors
- Head Teachers
- Officers responsible for Special Needs provision in Local Authorities
- Parents may also find the website helpful
Created by Chelsea Community Hospital School
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"Hello, I’m Janette Steel, the Head Teacher at Chelsea Community Hospital School. We have developed this website to help teachers and staff in mainstream and special schools support their students who have medical or mental health issues. It is easy to become overwhelmed by the abundance of often contradictory information available on the internet, so we have collected the knowledge and experience of medical consultants, specialist teachers and students from our four hospitals here, to give you the information you need." |
