Schools & early years

Asthma Educate is a free online teaching resource for 7 to 11 year olds that is designed to help fit asthma into the curriculum across the UK.

There are lesson plans, activities and assembly guidance to help make learning about asthma as easy and as fun as possible.

The PHSE and science lesson plans include activity sheets for the children to help reinforce their learning and each lesson plan also includes interactive resources such as a storybook and quiz and three vox pop videos show children talking about asthma.

There is also some guidance and information on how to deliver an assembly on asthma.

We are challenging your school or group to cover the distance of a marathon - a whole 26.2 miles - in any way you choose. This can be done in a day or over a period of time or in a single day.

Asthma UK’s Kick Asthma mini-marathon is a new school fundraising challenge to encourage pupils to get fit and active while raising money for the 1.1 million children in the UK with asthma.

The Anaphylaxis Campaign, Asthma UK, Diabetes UK, Epilepsy Action and Cystic Fibrosis Trsut worked together to provide free resources which assist schools in England to support their students with medical conditions.

Medical Conditions at Schools: A policy resource 

The Medical Conditions at School: A Policy Resource Pack, aims to help primary and secondary schools in England to include and support all pupils with medical conditions.

A medical conditions policy will ensure children and young people with medical conditions at your school can:

• Be healthy
• Stay safe
• Enjoy and achieve
• Make a positive contribution

The pack includes a policy framework, a template policy and guidance to help your school develop its own medical conditions policy, information on four medical conditions [Anaphylaxis, Asthma, Diabetes and Epilepsy], emergency procedure posters and useful forms including a Healthcare Plan.

The Medical Conditions at School: A Policy Resource Pack is available for school policy makers to download for free from www.medicalconditionsatschool.org.uk

Please note this resource has been designed for use in schools in England only and contains information about legislation that is relevant to England only. Asthma UK recommends that schools in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland refer to our School Asthma Pack (see above).  

Medical Conditions at School – Awareness sessions

Medical Conditions Awareness Sessions is a tool for school healthcare professionals such as school nurses to use with school staff to raise awareness and understanding of five long-term medical conditions.

It is a series of ‘awareness sessions’ and includes slides and presenter notes for five long-term medical conditions (anaphylaxis, asthma, cystic fibrosis, diabetes and epilepsy).

This free resource is available to school healthcare professionals and can be downloaded for free in PowerPoint format from www.medicalconditionsatschool.org.uk  

The guidelines tell you more about how children with asthma can control their condition, understand how to build the child's confidence, and create a safe environment for children with asthma where they can reach their full educational potential.

They aim to promote a working partnership between all concerned, resulting in the development and successful implementation of an asthma policy.

Click on the links below to download the guidelines.

• Pre-school guidelines (110 kb)
• FAQs for the pre-school environment. (214 kb)
• Pre-school medicines (91 kb)

Exercise is good for everyone. Learn more about how children with asthma can exercise safely and get the most out of PE and sports at school.

As part of our 'Out There & Active' campaign Asthma UK produces a classroom poster featuring top sports stars which has information and advice about asthma and exercise, and a series of factsheets for PE teachers and coaches about individual sports including football, rugby and swimming.

• 'Out There & Active' posters and factsheets

The Challenge Fund was an initiative supported by Asthma UK, which has awarded grants to healthcare professionals and community groups or individuals for projects that aim to improve the lives of people with asthma.

Some of the projects the Challenge Fund has supported are centred around helping children and young people in a school setting to better understand and manage their condition.

• Planet Asthma - an innovative asthma education project which uses art and exercise to empower children and young people.
• STAMP – a peer-led education programme in local secondary schools for 15-16 year olds to raise asthma awareness.
• The AAAH!!! Project – Young people produced a resource pack containing a DVD, activity sheets and teachers’ notes.

With the right healthcare management and support from their family, schools and the wider community, there is nothing that should stop the vast majority of pupils with asthma at your school from leading full and active lives.

By developing an active and integrated school asthma policy, you will help to ensure that pupils with asthma are healthy, stay safe, achieve their potential and are able to make a positive contribution.

Aimed at primary and secondary schools, this pack contains guidance for school staff, school nurses, head teachers, school governors/school boards, local education authorities/library boards, the school health service and others, to help develop and maintain an asthma policy that is customised to your individual school's needs.

Asthma UK recommends the pack for primary and secondary schools in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The pack includes information about:

• How pupils can control their asthma
• Where to go to get legal advice on medicine administration
• What you can do to create a safe school environment for pupils with asthma
• What you can do to help pupils with asthma reach their full potential at school

The article below in the Special Education Needs Magazine offers some advice for effective asthma management in the classroom.

Asthma feature in Special Education Needs Magazine (446 kb)