The asthma friendly schools programme sets out clear, effective partnership arrangements between health, education and local authorities for managing children and young people with asthma at primary and secondary schools.

This includes the adoption of government policy on emergency inhalers and early years settings, such as:

• Children’s centres having access to education programmes for children that wheeze
• Children and young people have an individual healthcare/action plan in place.

It also means that schools should have the following:

1. Register of all children and young people with asthma
2. Management plan for each child
3. Named individual responsible for asthma in each school
4. Policy for inhaler techniques and care of the children and young people with asthma
5. Policy regarding emergency treatment
6. System for identifying children who are missing school because of their asthma or who are not joining in sports or other activities due to poor control.

Make yours an asthma friendly school

A range of helpful resources including the asthma friendly schools business proposal, schools service specifications and a job description for paediatric asthma nurse are available.