Baby Shark helps pupils learn to restart a heart!
It’s become something of an earworm for all parents and teachers who are used to hearing it on repeat, but the song Baby Shark has taken on a more serious significance for pupils at St John Bosco Primary School in Sunderland, who used it to learn potentially lifesaving first aid techniques.
All pupils from year one upwards at the Town End Farm school, which is part of Bishop Chadwick Catholic Education Trust, were visited by first aid practitioners from University of Sunderland and Sunderland Royal Hospital as part of Restart a Heart Day 2022.
The healthcare specialists visited every class and spent up to 45 minutes demonstrating cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).
The younger pupils learned how to perform chest compressions to the rhythm of the song Baby Shark, while older pupils did the same to the beat of Jingle Bells.
Lianne Peart, headteacher of St John Bosco said the songs made the serious subject fun for pupils, who would hopefully go home and tell their parents and grandparents about it.
Lianne hopes this will create a ripple effect in terms of the local community’s knowledge about the crucial first aid technique, as well as supporting the children in their own personal development.
She said: “One of our parents works at Sunderland Royal Hospital and when the hospital offered to come into several primary schools, we jumped at the chance.
“We did a little assembly where we asked the children if they knew what CPR was and then they were shown how it could potentially save a life.
“The practitioners who came to demonstrate it visited every class from year one upwards and were here the whole day, demonstrating CPR to Baby Shark and Jingle Bells!”
Lianne said the pupils thoroughly enjoyed the visit and got a lot out of it.
She said: “Each class was shown the skills needed to carry out CPR effectively and when I asked the children what they thought, they said it was really good because they know more now and they were telling me things like how, if you are performing CPR on a baby, you use two fingers of one hand for the compressions.
“It was something different for them to be doing on a school day and it’s an important skill – one they will hopefully remember.
“It was also a great way to support the personal development of all children throughout our school.”
For more information on Restart A Heart day and training resources for schools, visit https://www.bhf.org.uk/how-you-can-help/how-to-save-a-life/cpr-training-in-schools/restart-a-heart-day