Education Bill

Memorandum submitted by Holy Name Catholic Primary School (E 40)

1. Holy Name Catholic Primary School is a primary school in Leeds West Yorkshire. We decided to teach Emergency Life Support (ELS) Skills in our school because we believe that the children feel empowered when they are instructed in life support skills which give them the ability to help a person in an emergency situation. We believe that ELS should be made a compulsory part of the National Curriculum in England.

2. ELS skills are the set of actions needed to keep someone alive until professional help arrives. They include performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), dealing with choking, serious bleeding and helping someone that may be having a heart attack.

3. Holy Name Catholic Primary School teaches ELS as part of the British Heart Foundation Heartstart training scheme.

4. Holy Name Catholic Primary School currently teaches ELS to 64 children per year aged between 8 and 10 years.

5. They are taught ELS for 10 hours per year as part of our PHSE timetable.

6. Holy Name Catholic Primary School believes that ELS should be made a compulsory part of the National Curriculum in England because it delivers a unique set of instruction to help a child ‘buy time’ until the emergency services arrive, learning how to open the airway and call 999 is a vital life saving skill which should be taught to everyone. We would like to encourage the Committee to amend the Education Bill to make this possible.

7. Elizabeth (Year 5 child) "I found Heartstart fun to learn and I feel proud to be able to help save a life"

Emmanuel (Year 5 child) "I think people trust me more now I am able to help them" Amy " I am happy to learn and its great that I can help people by using what I have learnt". Molly (Year 4 child) " I am really enjoying the lessons, I can’t wait to be able to show my Mum and Dad what I have learnt".

8. Ciara (Year 5 child) benefited from the training in Heartstart and told us the following experience she had had – "I was on holiday in Africa with my mum when a lady fell over, she badly cut her leg, I bent down and comforted her and helped by holding her leg and putting pressure on the wound. I asked by mum to go for help and the ambulance was called. The lady was very grateful and my mum was very proud of me".

9. Our trainer is a fully qualified Heartstart instructor and is first aid trained. Her certificate is updated on a regular basis, and she attends Heartstart booster courses when available. She differentiates lessons with confidence, according to ages groups, and the children thoroughly enjoy the experience.

March 2011