Asthma Friendly Schools

Asthma Friendly Schools: healthier learning environments

Welcome to the Asthma Friendly Schools (AFS) part of the our website.  The AFS programme is for:

  • schools
  • parents with children at school 
  • asthma societies.

What is an Asthma Friendly School?

An Asthma Friendly School (AFS) is a school that identifies children with asthma when they enrol at the school, whose staff are educated in asthma safety, that has an asthma policy and maintains a smokefree environment 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

What's better about Asthma Friendly Schools?

  • Kids with asthma are supported, learn more in the classroom and get more out of their school life.
  • 550 000 school days are lost to asthma each year in New Zealand. AFS schools will have fewer absences to cope with and more kids will be at school learning rather than unwell at home.
  • The risks of an asthma attack, or at least an attack nobody at the school can deal with, are reduced.
  • Fuller student participation in physical activities. Kids with asthma are often kept on the sidelines because their asthma is not managed. If everyone is more informed, it is much more likely that kids with asthma will be able to take part in physical activities.

This site provides information...

For Schools

  • How schools can become an AFS if they are not already
  • How to keep kids with asthma safe and supported at school 

For Parents

  • The benefits of Asthma Friendly Schools
  • A directory of AFSes

For Asthma Societies

  • How to best engage schools in the AFS programme