Paediatric First-Aid Coverage and Competence Training

Start by identifying whether your school provides EYFS early years education. The requirements covered in this lesson apply conditionally to maintained and academy schools that provide this early years provision. They do not automatically apply to every part of every school or to settings without EYFS early years provision. If your school provides EYFS early years education, the EYFS paediatric first-aid requirements apply to that provision, including arrangements for off-site activities involving young children. If you are unsure whether a particular provision is within the EYFS scope, check the relevant EYFS information and your school's current arrangements before making a staffing decision. This course does not determine the status of a particular provision.

Hypothetical example: A maintained primary school has a Reception class that is part of its EYFS provision and also teaches pupils in Years 1 to 6. The paediatric first-aid coverage requirements described in this lesson apply to the EYFS early years provision. The school should not assume that the same conclusion follows for parts of the school that are outside that provision without checking the applicable requirements.

Where the requirements apply, at least one person with a current paediatric first-aid certificate must be on the premises and available whenever children are present. The certificate must be for a full paediatric first-aid course consistent with the criteria in annex A of the EYFS. This is a coverage requirement: it concerns whether an appropriately certified person is present and available at the relevant time, not simply whether someone at the school has held a certificate at some point in the past.

Hypothetical worked decision: An EYFS class is open and children are present. The designated paediatric first aider is absent and no other person with a current full paediatric first-aid certificate is available on the premises. The coverage requirement is not met at that time. The relevant question is not whether the school normally has a paediatric first aider, but whether at least one current certificate holder is on the premises and available whenever the children are present. The school's local staffing and escalation arrangements should then be followed; this course does not prescribe those arrangements.

The same availability principle applies when children go on outings. A person with a current paediatric first-aid certificate should accompany children on outings. Before an outing, check the school's applicable outing or educational-visit process and identify how it records staffing, certification, and contingencies. The local process matters because it may explain who checks these details and how changes are managed, but this course does not create or replace that process.

Hypothetical worked decision: An EYFS group is due to visit a local library. The person originally expected to accompany the group has no current paediatric first-aid certificate. The school should not treat the planned visit as covered merely because another certificate holder will remain at school. The requirement described here is that a person with a current paediatric first-aid certificate should accompany the children on the outing. The school should use its local outing arrangements to decide what conditional staffing change or escalation is needed.

Relevant level 2 and level 3 staff have an additional qualification requirement. Staff who obtained a level 2 or level 3 qualification on or after 30 June 2016 must have either a full paediatric first-aid certificate or an emergency paediatric first-aid certificate within three months of starting work in order to be included in the required staff-to-child ratios at level 2 or level 3 in an early years setting. This does not mean that this awareness lesson provides either qualification or confirms that a person holds one.

Hypothetical worked decision: A level 2 staff member who obtained the qualification after 30 June 2016 starts work in an EYFS setting. At the point three months after starting work, the staff member does not hold either a full paediatric first-aid certificate or an emergency paediatric first-aid certificate. The school should not count that person in the required level 2 or level 3 ratios on the basis of the qualification alone. The school's staffing and qualification-recording arrangements should be used to address the position.

A likely mistake is to treat any first-aid certificate, an expired certificate, or a certificate held by someone elsewhere on the school site as sufficient. The correction is to check the requirements that apply to the EYFS provision: the certificate must be current; for the always-available coverage requirement it must be a full paediatric first-aid certificate consistent with the EYFS criteria; and the certificate holder must be on the premises and available whenever children are present. For outings, the current certificate holder should accompany the children. For relevant level 2 and level 3 staff, check whether the person has the required full paediatric or emergency paediatric first-aid certificate within the stated three-month period before counting them in the required ratios.

To apply this lesson in your work, use a simple sequence: first, confirm whether the relevant provision is EYFS early years education; second, check whether children are present on the premises or are going on an outing; third, verify that the relevant current paediatric first-aid certificate holder is available in the required location; and fourth, check the qualification position for relevant level 2 and level 3 staff before counting them in the required ratios. Where a decision depends on school-specific staffing, records, escalation, or outing arrangements, consult the current local plan or procedure rather than relying on this awareness lesson. Full paediatric or emergency paediatric first-aid competence requires appropriate training and assessment outside this course.