Asthma is a common long-term medical condition in children, that can prove fatal without appropriate management. Improving schools’ management of asthma in Suffolk is vital in preventing avoidable harm to children with asthma.
Suffolk is part of the Asthma Friendly Schools initiative, to help meet the national standards specified in the National Bundle of Care for Children and Young People with Asthma.
Suffolk’s Public Health & Communities team kindly request that all schools nominate twonamed asthma champions, members of staff who will act as a link through whom AFS programme will be set up and followed through.
Becoming “Asthma Friendly” involves meeting the following criteria:
- The school must implement asthma policy and monitor it through annual audit using the checklist
- The school must have an up-to-date register of children with asthma to support the pupils throughout the school year
- The school must have a copy of their pupils’ Asthma Annual Plan to effectively support them
- The school must have access to an emergency asthma kit and can evidence that it is regularly checked and has well trained staff who can use them during emergency
- All staff should complete Asthma training and be able to support asthmatic children well at school
- Each school is recommended to have a named Asthma Champion who can provide leadership in this area
Benefits of becoming an Asthma Friendly School are as follows:
- Improving asthma awareness and management in the school
- Improving support to students with asthma encouraging an inclusive environment
- Supporting responsibilities for the health, safety and wellbeing of students and staff
- Ensures the school is implementing current and best practice asthma management strategies
- Enables the school to promote its self-evaluated status to ensure that the community is aware of the school’s commitment to Asthma Friendly strategies.
In other settings, asthma school projects have demonstrated huge reduction in emergency asthma admissions and cost savings.
A webinar will be set up to advise schools on how to meet these criteria. Asthma Friendly Schools will be provided recognition which can be publicised on school noticeboards and websites.
If you have not already done so, please send the names and email addresses of two or more nominated asthma champions to the Schools Engagement Manager, Jane Stannard, at [email protected].
More information is available on the Suffolk Learning website: Asthma Management in Education Settings – Suffolk Learning