TEACHER Chris Parmenter has been praised for his calmness and quick actions which saved the life of a child who was choking on a sweet after slipping on a playground obstacle course.

Mr Parmenter, 33, spotted the boy was having trouble breathing an immediately performed the Heimlich manoeuvre to dislodge the blockage.

The incident happened at Chirton Primary School, near Devizes, after celebration to mark the end of SATS exams for children in Year 6 nearly ended in tragedy.

Headteacher Amy Bekker-Wrench said she was proud of the way Mr Parmenter used his first aid training so quickly and calmly when he saw the boy was choking.

She said: “Chris did a tremendous job. All of our staff have extensive first aid training and it is fantastic that Chris was able to use his to such good effect. I am proud not just of him but of other staff and the children who all acted just as I would have hoped in an emergency.

“Another staff member helped Chris and two children came quickly to get me. But by the time I got there the pupil was already much better.”

She said the Year 6 children had been given treats in the classroom to celebrate the end of the SATS exams and had later been allowed out into the play area under supervision.

She said: “The boy only slipped a very short way from the tyre but it caused a sweet to get lodged in his throat.”

Mr Parmenter said: “I didn’t have time to be worried. I just saw the boy couldn’t breath. I just did what anyone else on the staff would have done. We are a small school with a big heart and we all try to look after each other.

“I knew how to perform the Heimlich manoeuvre.”

Mrs Bekker-Wrench said that as the boy recovered very quickly an ambulance was not called. His parents took him for a check-up and he was found to be fine and he was back at school the next day.