Asthma Management
Our school recognises that asthma is an important condition affecting many school age children and positively welcomes all pupils with asthma.
Our school encourages children with asthma to achieve their full potential in all aspects of school life by having clear guidelines that are understood by staff and pupils.
Medication:
Immediate access to reliever inhalers is vital.
School staff follow guidelines as outlined in our Administration of Medicine Policy.
Record keeping:
PE:
The school environment:
● The school ensures the school environment is favourable to children with asthma by not keeping furry or feathery pets and having a non-smoking policy. Chemicals in science and art lessons that are potential triggers of asthma are avoided as far as possible.
Impact on learning:
● If a child is missing lots of school days or is tired/excessively coughing in school, the class teacher will talk with parents. Their medication may need to be adjusted by their GP.
Asthma attack:
● The school and school staff follow the '5 minute rule' procedure (which is displayed clearly in school) in the event of an asthma attack.
“The Five Minute Rule”
1. Ensure the reliever inhaler is taken immediately. This is usually blue and opens up narrowed air passages.
2. Sit the child up and loosen tight clothing.
3. Stay calm. Attacks may be frightening and it is important to stay calm.
4. If no immediate improvement during an attack, continue to take the reliever inhaler every minute for five minutes or until symptoms improve: two puffs if MDI/evohaler or one puff if turbohaler.
5. If symptoms do not improve in five minutes, or if you are in doubt, call 999 or a doctor urgently. Continue to give reliever inhaler until help arrives or symptoms improve.
Our school recognises that asthma is an important condition affecting many school age children and positively welcomes all pupils with asthma.
Our school encourages children with asthma to achieve their full potential in all aspects of school life by having clear guidelines that are understood by staff and pupils.
Medication:
Immediate access to reliever inhalers is vital.
- Older children are encouraged to carry their reliever inhaler, while reliever inhalers of younger children are kept easily accessible in the classroom
- Parents are asked to ensure that the school is provided with a labeled reliever inhaler and spacer device (where necessary) which the class teacher holds separately in case the child forgets or loses his/hers
- All school staff will let children take their own medication when they need to
School staff follow guidelines as outlined in our Administration of Medicine Policy.
Record keeping:
- At the beginning of the school year or when a child joins the school, parents are asked if their child has asthma.
- The school asthma record sheet is given to parents of children with asthma and filled out.
- School asthma record sheets are sent to parents annually to be updated.
- If a child’s medication changes, parents are asked to inform the school.
PE:
- Participation in sport is an important part of school life.
- Children with asthma are encouraged to participate fully in PE.
- Teachers will remind pupils with asthma to complete a warm up before the lesson and that some children may need to take their reliever approx. 10 minutes before the start of a PE class.
- Each child’s inhalers are labelled and kept on site at the lesson. Children are encouraged to use their inhaler during PE class if they need it.
The school environment:
● The school ensures the school environment is favourable to children with asthma by not keeping furry or feathery pets and having a non-smoking policy. Chemicals in science and art lessons that are potential triggers of asthma are avoided as far as possible.
Impact on learning:
● If a child is missing lots of school days or is tired/excessively coughing in school, the class teacher will talk with parents. Their medication may need to be adjusted by their GP.
Asthma attack:
● The school and school staff follow the '5 minute rule' procedure (which is displayed clearly in school) in the event of an asthma attack.
“The Five Minute Rule”
1. Ensure the reliever inhaler is taken immediately. This is usually blue and opens up narrowed air passages.
2. Sit the child up and loosen tight clothing.
3. Stay calm. Attacks may be frightening and it is important to stay calm.
4. If no immediate improvement during an attack, continue to take the reliever inhaler every minute for five minutes or until symptoms improve: two puffs if MDI/evohaler or one puff if turbohaler.
5. If symptoms do not improve in five minutes, or if you are in doubt, call 999 or a doctor urgently. Continue to give reliever inhaler until help arrives or symptoms improve.