No props, no printing. One slide is timed — have a clock or a phone timer ready.
Pick one. It changes the words on every slide, and which slides you get.
A clicker or the arrow keys, and a timer for slide 6. Nothing else. No printing, no props.
Agree one before you start. "Hands up if you can hear me" — raise your own hand silently and say nothing. Works in any hall.
Brief your DSL and pastoral lead before you run this, and have a named adult free straight afterwards. It covers collapsing, choking and burns, so warn the TA and check whether any child has recently lived through one. Nothing in here is hands-on practice. Any hands-on first aid practice — the recovery position, back blows, chest compressions — must be run by a trained adult, on a cushion or a teddy, never on another child.
Slide 3 is the 999 chant. Five things, said back to you twice, by the whole hall. If they leave with nothing else, they leave with that. Slides 4 and 6 come in two versions — whole hall for EYFS/KS1, a volunteer and a timed challenge for KS2. Run the one for your hall, not both.
Press → when the school is settled. The next slide is what they see.
Three things every single one of you can do — even the smallest of us.
"Every year in the UK, more than forty thousand people have a cardiac arrest outside hospital. Their heart stops, and they are not in a hospital. They are at home, or in a shop, or on a bus."
"Hands up if you think you could be that someone nearby — if you knew what to do. (pause — look at the hands) Keep them up. By the end of this assembly, you will know."
"If you ever have to call 999, this is what to say. Five things, in this order. Calm voice. Slow words."
"One — ambulance, please. Two — your full address. Three — what's happened. Four — who's hurt and how old they are. Five — stay on the line."
Now the whole hall. Say each one and let them say it back. Twice through.
"Ambulance. Address. What's happened. Who's hurt. Stay on the line."
"Number two is the big one. Your address. That is your job this week. 'My address is 14 Oak Avenue, postcode SE5 8AB.' Now go and learn yours."
"if you don't know what's happened, just say what you can see. And don't hang up. The operator will tell you exactly what to do until the ambulance arrives. Even if it feels like ages."
"You're at home with a grown-up. They have suddenly collapsed and aren't answering. They're breathing but won't open their eyes. What do you do?"
This beat comes in two versions. Run the one for the hall you have, not both.
"Hold one hand out flat in front of you. That's them, lying on their back. Now roll your hand over onto its side. (do it with them — hands only, nobody touches anybody) That's the shape. That's all it is."
"hands up first, before anyone shouts out. Do you leave them lying on their back, or move them? (take both votes by eye — don't say which yet) One volunteer, stand up. One hand out flat — that's them, on their back. Show the hall what you would do with it. (hands only, nobody touches anybody) Everybody else, you are the judges: thumbs up if that is right. (the flat hand rolls over onto its side — that's the shape)"
"Recovery position. Roll them onto their side. Tilt their head so their mouth opens. Then call 999."
"rolling them onto their side keeps the airway clear."
"Someone smaller than you is choking on a grape. They're coughing but it's not coming out. Thumbs up if coughing is a good sign. Thumbs down if it's a bad sign. (pause — let them commit) Keep them there."
"Keep coughing. If they can cough, tell them to keep coughing — coughing is the strongest thing that can shift it. Only if their cough goes weak or silent: lean them forward and give five firm back blows between the shoulder blades. Shout for an adult."
Say clearly: we do not practise this on each other. Not here, not in the playground.
"Your friend has burnt their hand on a kettle. It's red and starting to blister. What do you do?"
"Cold tap. Hold the burn under cool running water for at least 20 minutes. Nothing else — no creams, no butter, no ice."
This beat comes in two versions. Run the one for the hall you have, not both.
"Twenty minutes is longer than you think. Everybody completely still and completely silent. I'll stop you. Ready. Go."
"twenty minutes is longer than you think — and this is a challenge. Eyes closed, nobody counting out loud. Put your hand straight up the moment you think twenty seconds have gone by. Ready. Go. (say nothing until your timer says twenty. Then: eyes open — look how many hands went up early.)"
Twenty seconds. Time it — don't guess. Then:
"That was twenty seconds. A burn needs sixty times that. That's why people stop too early."
"A boy is at home with his grandmother. She suddenly collapses. He's just done a first-aid lesson at school."
"He rolls her into the recovery position. He calls 999. He gives the address. He stays on the line."
"By the time paramedics arrive, his grandmother is breathing steadily on her side. Those first minutes matter most."
"He wasn't special. He wasn't a doctor. He had learned it three weeks earlier — and when the moment came, he used it."
Press → to reveal. Then ask the next two aloud — no slide needed:
"What do we say first when 999 answer?" (ambulance, please) · "Which way do we roll someone who won't wake up?" (onto their side)
"Your friend is choking and coughing hard — what do you tell them?" (keep coughing) · "What are the five things you say on a 999 call?" (ambulance, address, what's happened, who's hurt, stay on the line)
"You just need to know what to do. Three things. Recovery position. Calling 999 with your address. Cold water for burns — for at least 20 minutes."
"Hands up if you'll practise one of those three at home this week. With a parent. With a brother or sister. With a teddy. (count the hands — say the number out loud)"
"Learn your address by heart, postcode and all. Practise the recovery position — on a teddy if you're smaller, with a grown-up if you're older. And tell one person tonight what you learned in here. That's the homework."