Becoming an Asthma Friendly School

Becoming an Asthma Friendly School:

The Asthma Friendly Schools award was initiated to encourage schools to develop safe, healthy and inclusive environments for students with asthma. An Asthma Friendly School adopts the requirements to support the whole school community in understanding and managing asthma.

What you need to do:

To be recognised as an Asthma Friendly School, schools must demonstrate meeting a set of criteria that establishes an Asthma Friendly environment and meets current legislation from the Department of Health guidelines.

To achieve Asthma Friendly School status your school will need to meet the following key objectives:

• All staff in school to be trained in asthma awareness e-learning CYP asthma Tier 1 training 
• Each school to have an asthma policy
• Each school to have an asthma register
• Parents/carers to be encouraged to share their child’s management plan
• A consistent approach to where and how inhalers are stored in school
• A notification system of when inhalers are due to expire
• Each school to have a spare emergency inhaler and spacer
• A process in place when to escalate cases to a health professional

 

Benefits to becoming and Asthma Friendly school include:

• Improving asthma awareness and management in the school
• Improving support to pupils with asthma encouraging an inclusive environment
• Supporting responsibilities for the health, safety and wellbeing of pupils and staff
• Ensures the school is implementing current and best practice asthma management strategies.
• Enables the school to promote the self-evaluated status to ensure that the community is aware of the school's commitment to Asthma Friendly strategies.

Checklist:

If you would like to become an Asthma Friendly School, please download the checklist and return it to schoolwellbeing@leeds.gov.uk and following a review to ensure that you have completed the criteria, we will arrange for a certificate and logo to be sent to you.

Training:

The Asthma National Steering Group has also now recommended that people involved with the care and management of Asthma in children and young people utilise the same standardised platform for their training needs. Please see the following link which explains the asthma training tiers 1 through 5: Asthma (Children and young people) - elearning for healthcare (e-lfh.org.uk)

Videos resources (click on the video title):

Becky Bishop reminds children to take their brown inhaler twice a day https://www.youtube.com/embed/iOYh3AVl5VY

Billy Bawler reminds children to carry their blue inhaler with them at all times https://www.youtube.com/embed/k3V1VLB4S3s 

Oh no David Beckham's here but you've forgotten your inhaler!

No fun at the fair if you forget your inhaler

Ice cream van is here but you've forgotten your inhaler!

Don't forget your inhaler as Justin Bieber might need a backing singer

Tig chase don't let asthma catch you

 

Peak in Asthma Admissions in September

Data shows that every year in September there is a peak in admissions for children having an asthma attack. The cause of this is not clear, however it is believed that when the children return to school they are exposed to a number of new environmental factors that can trigger an asthma attack.  Children are also exposed to new viruses which can be another trigger of an asthma attack.  If children with asthma return to school with their lungs in the best possible condition, then an asthma attack maybe prevented.

We are therefore asking that schools encourage their pupils with asthma to attend their GP practice for an asthma review during the school holidays.  This gives the nurse or doctor the opportunity to review their medication, check their inhaler technique and give them a personal asthma action plan.  The pupils will then be able to bring a copy of that updated asthma action plan into school in September; this will give school staff the information required to support pupils with their asthma in school, which could prevent an asthma attack.

This could be done via text message, email or letter.  To download an example letter for parents at the end of term click here, your school can adapt this to text message or email if preferred.

Additional documents and resources:

Asthma attach advice poster Children with asthma - schools poster (A3 English) – Asthma + Lung UK (asthmaandlung.org.uk)

West Yorkshire Asthma Friendly Schools (explainer) (pdf)

Asthma Schools Letter (pdf)

Asthma and anaphylaxis awareness training (e-learning modules) (pdf)

A draft asthma policy (pdf)

An example of ‘my asthma plan’ from Asthma UK (pdf)

A school action plan (generic) (pdf)

An asthma consent form – emergency use of salbutamol (pdf)

An asthma consent form – emergency use of salbutamol (download Word document)

Symptoms of an asthma attack

Parent’s Guide: Asthma and my child Use this handy guide to help your child stay well

Supporting schools with pupils with asthma:

https://www.beatasthma.co.uk/resources/schools/practical-advice-sports-days-and-school-trips/

Air pollution forecast map: 

https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/forecasting/

Leeds Primary School Clean Air Toolkit KS1 and KS2: 

This toolkit has been designed by Leeds City Council in partnership with London Sustainability Exchange to help you promote sustainable travel to school by teaching your pupils about Air Quality. The toolkit supports your school travel plan, contributes to Modeshift STARS and Healthy Schools Initiative and helps Leeds reduce its carbon emissions and work towards becoming a carbon neutral city.
We will help you and your pupils find out the answers to the following questions:
• What is air quality?
• How does it affect us?
• How do we measure it?
• Can we make a difference?
We have divided up this toolkit into four sections: explore, experiment, analyse and take
action. All of our sections go together as a full unit of work, but we have left room for you to be flexible if you just have time for a lesson or two.

Leeds Clean Air Toolkit KS1

Leeds Clean Air Toolkit KS2

West Yorkshire Asthma Friendly Schools Initiative aims to improve the care of pupils with asthma by raising awareness through information, training and support for school staff as well as pupils, parents and carers.

For further information please visit: West Yorkshire asthma friendly schools :: West Yorkshire Health & Care Partnership (wypartnership.co.uk)

 

Many congratulations to the following Leeds schools who have achieved this award:

Alwoodley Primary School

Cookridge Primary School

Dixons Unity Academy

Gildersome Primary School

Hawksworth C of E Primary School

Hawksworth Wood Primary School

Hill Top Primary Academy

Ireland Wood Primary School

Meadowfield Primary School

St. Francis Catholic Primary School Morley

Pudsey Lowtown Primary School

Spring Bank Primary School

Weetwood Primary School

Westerton Primary Academy

Whingate Primary School

Whinmoor St Paul's CofE Primary School