Education Bill

Memorandum submitted by Pinderfields Hospital School (E 55)

1. Pinderfields Hospital School is a school for young people with medical and/or mental health problems in Wakefield, West Yorkshire. We decided to teach Emergency Life Support (ELS) Skills in our school because we feel it is an essential lifeskill and as, if not more important than other aspects of the curriculum.

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. Pinderfields Hospital School teaches ELS as part of the British Heart Foundation Heartstart training scheme.

4. Pinderfields hospital School currently teaches ELS to the whole school each year as part of the PHSEE curriculum and via school assemblies

5. They are taught ELS for 3-4 hours per year.

6. Pinderfields Hospital School believes that ELS should be made a compulsory part of the National Curriculum in England because there is no greater skill to teach than life saving. We also feel that teaching ELS helps generate interest in the medical professions. We would like to encourage the Committee to amend the Education Bill to make this possible.

7. Pupils and staff enjoy working together on ELS and it is a great way to get children active in their own learning. They enjoy being able to demonstrate effective skills

8. Teachers enjoy working together and through our Healthy Schools Team we are always supported and provided with opportunities for updating knowledge and skills.

March 2011