A school in Sheffield is the first in the city to be certified ‘asthma friendly’ by the South Yorkshire Children and Young People’s Alliance.
Ballifield Community Primary School in Handsworth, Sheffield, is the first school in Sheffield to be accredited as an asthma friendly school.
The South Yorkshire Asthma Friendly Schools initiative, led by the South Yorkshire Children and Young People’s Alliance, 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.
Dr Sonal Kansra, Consultant in Paediatric Respiratory Medicine at Sheffield Children's Hospital, said: “Asthma is the most common long-term medical condition in children in the UK, with around 1 in 11 children and young people living with asthma. In the UK we have one of the highest rates of emergency admission and deaths for childhood asthma in Europe. Schools and education partners across South Yorkshire play a significant part of helping us to improve the lives and health of children living with asthma.”
Some of the Asthma Friendly Schools initiative’s key objectives are to ensure all staff in school are trained in asthma awareness, the school to have an asthma policy and register, a process in school for storing inhalers and a notification system of when they will expire and a process in place of when to escalate cases to a health professional and/or parents and carers.
Nicola Ennis, South Yorkshire Children and Young People’s Alliance Programme Director, explained: “We are working with schools across South Yorkshire to improve asthma awareness and management in schools. This initiative forms one part of a wider South Yorkshire CYP work programme, aiming to remove inequity and improve current and longer-term life outcomes for children and young people by partnering with organisations and young people. It is fantastic to see a number of schools across South Yorkshire already accredited but Ballifield is the first school in Sheffield, and we’re glad to have them onboard!”
Emma Sheppard, a respiratory nurse specialist from Sheffield Children’s Hospital, has worked with staff from Ballifield School and, along with the help from pupil Owen who lives with asthma, has helped them to achieve ‘asthma friendly’ status.
Owen, along with his sister Caitlin, helped Emma to present the school with their certificate at a special assembly on Tuesday 2 July (pictured).
Molly Rushforth, Learning Mentor at Ballifield Community Primary School, said: “We are delighted to be the first school in Sheffield to have received this recognition of being an ‘asthma friendly’ school. We wanted to improve our knowledge and self confidence so we could improve the care of pupils with asthma in our school.
"Due to an increasing amount of children being diagnosed with this long term condition we felt it was important to raise awareness. We know this awareness will improve classroom performance and child participation in physical activity. We are proud of all our children at Ballifield and we would like to thank our new asthma champion, Owen who will continue to support pupils in the school with the condition. Finally, we would also like to thank Emma Sheppard for supporting us on this journey.”
For more information about the Asthma Friendly Schools initiative, including how to get your school onboard, please see here: Join South Yorkshire's Asthma Friendly Schools Programme to improve health outcomes for children & young people with asthma. (sybhealthiertogether.nhs.uk).