SeizureSmart Schools • Epilepsy New Zealand

What is a SeizureSmart School?

A SeizureSmart school is a school that understands epilepsy and puts in place inclusive practices to support a student with epilepsy to achieve their academic potential and develop positive social relationships. The SeizureSmart schools program has been developed to support students, teachers and schools using evidence-based practices

Link To SeizureSmart Online Learning

Ensure your school knows how to support students with Epilepsy

Become a seizuresmart school.

FREE TRAINING AVAILABLE for schools in South Auckland( Papatoetoe) and Eastern Bay of Plenty.

If your school is in this region, please e-mail seizuresmart@epilepsy.org.nz to find out how to access online learning.

It is estimated that 1 in 200 students live with epilepsy. Across their career, every Teacher in a New Zealand school will teach at least one child who lives with Epilepsy.

Epilepsy is so much more than just seizures and the impact on concentration, memory, and learning can have lasting effects.

Teachers need seizure-specific training

Schools have a duty of care to provide a safe learning environment for all students and ensure they accommodate the needs of all students. The SeizureSmart schools programme will assist schools in creating this environment.

Epilepsy can have a significant impact on a child’s experience at school due to the impact of seizures and any medication they may be taking, making it hard for a child to concentrate or remember information from class. The stigma and discrimination still felt by many living with epilepsy today can also contribute to these difficulties. There are over 40 types of epilepsy and as every child’s experience of epilepsy is different, supporting them at school will require an individualised approach.
Teachers need to understand the impact of epilepsy on student learning, as well as have epilepsy-specific training in understanding and managing epilepsy.

By becoming a SeizureSmart school, you can demonstrate that your school has a supportive and inclusive learning environment.

Using the programme developed in Australia and having customized this for a New Zealand Audience, Epilepsy New Zealand launched a successful pilot in mid-2022 throughout schools in New Zealand that enabled teachers and other educators to undertake the learning free of charge in order to become a SeizureSmart school.

The pilot was been hugely successful, with so many schools registering and completing the training and great feedback received on the training. A big thanks to all the schools who took part.

The learning module is called New Zealand Introduction to Epilepsy for Educators.

This 1-hour course will provide teachers with the underpinning knowledge required to support students living with epilepsy.
There are 13 sections within the module to complete plus the quiz, additional resources that are available to download and a short feedback summary.
The course can be completed online at your own pace and a personalised certificate is available for download upon completion.
There are also additional classroom resources available for download.