Education Bill

Memorandum submitted by West London Academy (E 63)

1. West London Academy is an all through Academy in Northolt in West London. We decided to teach Emergency Life Support (ELS) Skills in our school because we wanted to offer is as part of our Children’s University after school clubs and also because it forms part of the professional development we offer student and house leaders and our BTEC sport course.

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. West London Academy teaches ELS as part of the British Heart Foundation Heartstart training scheme.

4. West London Academy currently teaches ELS to approximately 95 children aged 7 to 16 per year.

5. They are taught ELS for between 2 and 8 hours as part of the after school clubs that we offer in the school, as well as during curriculum time in Year 11. There are plans to include it in some of the Year 6 class lessons.

6. West London Academy believes that ELS should be made a compulsory part of the National Curriculum in England because it develops essential life skills and raises the level of knowledge confidence and aspiration. We would like to encourage the Committee to amend the Education Bill to make this possible.

7. Children have enjoyed all aspects of the course, in particular the CPR element. They have been able to relate the skills learned to real life situations. They have also been proud to learn some practical skills that they can see the use of.

8. One of the high school pupils was able to use the skills he learnt to help a casualty at a bus stop. The person had collapsed and our pupil was able to help and call for an ambulance.

9. Staff are offered free training updates by St John Ambulance as part of the Saving Londoners’ Lives scheme. Because of the support of St John, staff feel confident to teach the skills. Medical students are also available to help support individual sessions and are booked through the Saving Londoners’ Lives website.

March 2011