Asthma, Epilepsy and Diabetes in Primary Schools: Why More Staff Need This Training Now

A conversation with primary school staff recently stopped us in our tracks. They were noticing something teachers up and down the country are quietly talking about: the number of children walking through the gates with a diabetes diagnosis is going up. Not by ones, but by enough to change how a school day has to be run.

It got us thinking, and digging. Because if children with long-term conditions are becoming more visible in classrooms, then the staff supporting them need to be visible too. Visible in their confidence. Visible in their competence. And visible in knowing exactly what to do when something goes wrong.

The numbers behind what teachers are seeing

Around 29,000 children in the UK are currently living with type 1 diabetes, and that figure has been climbing for decades. Global research tracks the incidence of childhood type 1 diabetes rising by roughly 3 to 4 per cent every year since the 1950s, a trend that has not slowed down despite huge advances in treatment and technology. The highest rates of new diagnoses are now seen in children aged 5 to 14, exactly the age group sitting in primary classrooms.

Asthma tells a similar story. The UK has one of the highest rates of childhood asthma in Europe, and epilepsy affects around 1 in every 200 children. Put those three conditions together: asthma, epilepsy and diabetes, and most primary schools will have at least one pupil, often several, who could need urgent help during the school day.

So what’s driving the rise?

Researchers don’t have a single, neat answer. The growth in type 1 diabetes specifically, which is an autoimmune condition, not linked to diet or lifestyle, is the subject of active investigation, and environmental factors are increasingly under the microscope. Viral infections have long been suspected as triggers in genetically susceptible children. Changes in early-life exposures, gut microbiome shifts, vitamin D levels and even the timing of weaning have all been examined.

The honest answer is: nobody knows for certain. What we do know is that the rise is real, it is sustained, and schools are absorbing the impact of it, whether they feel ready or not.

What the law actually says

Here is the bit that often surprises school leaders. Under Section 100 of the Children and Families Act 2014, governing bodies of maintained schools, academies and pupil referral units have a statutory duty to make arrangements to support pupils with medical conditions. That means it is not a “nice to have.” It is a legal requirement, sitting alongside duties under the Equality Act 2010 and the wider duty of care every school owes its pupils.

The Department for Education’s statutory guidance, Supporting pupils at school with medical conditions, is clear: children with conditions like asthma, epilepsy and diabetes should be properly supported so they can play a full and active role in school life. Individual Healthcare Plans should be in place. Staff should be trained. Emergency medication should be accessible. And critically, when an emergency happens, somebody on site needs to know what to do.

Can school staff actually administer emergency medication?

Yes. We get asked this a lot, and we understand the nervousness behind the question. The answer is that any member of school staff may be asked to provide support to pupils with medical conditions, including the administering of medicines, provided they have received suitable and sufficient training. Administering medication isn’t part of a teacher’s contractual professional duties, but staff can, and do, volunteer to take it on, and many schools rely on this to keep pupils safe.

The crucial word is training. A teaching assistant who has been trained in the recognition and treatment of a hypoglycaemic episode can act quickly when a child goes pale, shaky and confused at 11am. A lunchtime supervisor who has been trained in epilepsy can keep a child safe during a seizure rather than freezing. A class teacher who knows the signs of a severe asthma attack can use a reliever inhaler before the situation becomes life-threatening.

Without training, well-meaning staff hesitate. And in an emergency, hesitation is the thing that costs.

What our Asthma, Epilepsy and Diabetes Awareness course covers

This is a course we used to run regularly, this was historically delivered by school nurses, and built around the practical reality of school life. We’ve brought it back because demand is clearly there.

In a focused three-hour session, your team will learn:

• How to recognise the signs and symptoms of an asthma attack, an epileptic seizure and both hypo- and hyperglycaemic episodes
• How to respond calmly and appropriately to each emergency
• How and when to administer emergency medication — including reliever inhalers, auto injectors and glucagon where prescribed
• How to support pupils day-to-day so that emergencies are less likely in the first place
• How to work confidently with Individual Healthcare Plans, parents and healthcare professionals

It is practical, plain-English and built specifically for school staff, not generic first aid. Teachers, teaching assistants, lunchtime supervisors, office staff, breakfast and after-school club teams: anyone who might be the first adult on the scene.

Why act on this now

Conditions are on the rise. Legal duties are tightening. Parents are quite rightly asking sharper questions about who in the school is trained, and what would happen if their child needed help. A school that can answer those questions confidently is a school that protects its pupils, its staff and its reputation.

If your primary school hasn’t refreshed this training in a while, or has never run it, now is the moment.

Book your team in

The Midlands Training Company is taking bookings for our Asthma, Epilepsy and Diabetes Awareness course, available face-to-face at your setting or as a scheduled online session. We can train whole staff teams together, which keeps costs down and makes sure everyone is working from the same playbook.

Get in touch with us today to discuss dates, group sizes and pricing. One short course could be the difference between a child making it safely through a school day and an emergency nobody was ready for.

Call us, email us, or message us and let’s get your team trained.