The Whitefield school received the accreditation from The Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust (NCA). It recognises the school’s work to support children with asthma.
What is an asthma-friendly school?
A school can achieve asthma-friendly status by making sure:
- It has an asthma policy and have an asthma register in place.
- All of the staff are trained in asthma awareness and there is a named asthma lead within school.
- The children and staff know how to use an inhaler safely and effectively.
- Management of inhalers follows a consistent approach, and the school has a spare emergency inhaler and spacer. A spacer is a plastic tube that fits onto the mouthpiece of your inhaler. It helps you breathe the medicines into your lungs more easily.
- The school is able to monitor when an inhaler is due to expire.
- All staff know when they need to escalate cases to health professionals and/or parents/carers.
Ian Tetlow, headteacher at Higher Lane Primary School, said:
“Becoming an asthma-friendly school is a real positive and serves as recognition of the systems and practices we have in place to support our children.
“We are very proud to have our work recognised and thank you to Mrs Nott in her lead role, the staff team and wider community for embracing the initiatives put in place.”
Sonia Keane, paediatric nurse practitioner, Bury Children’s Community Services, added:
“I have enjoyed working with the school to support them in achieving asthma-friendly school status. The school is now in a better position to support pupils with the condition and in a better place to handle emergencies.
“We are working with other schools in Bury to achieve their accreditation and help make our schools a safer and more inclusive place for our children.”
We have lots of tips and advice about childhood asthma on our childhood asthma page.
