More than 100 schools attempt to break record for largest hand-washing lesson

More than 100 schools across the UK have attempted to break a world record for the largest hand hygiene lesson.

A hand-washing lesson was streamed into school assembly halls from De Montfort University in Leicester on Tuesday, which students throughout the country watched to learn about proper hand-washing technique and to attempt to break a Guinness World Record.

The lesson consisted of watching a hand hygiene story being read as well as talking puppets.

Glo gel was placed under a UV light box to make germs show up, and the demonstrations of hand-washing were accompanied by a song.

Ciara Sutton, the deputy head teacher at St Vincent’s Catholic Primary School in Altrincham, Greater Manchester, told the PA news agency that 630 children at the school were taking part, which they did “really well”.

“I think they did brilliantly because there were a lot of rules to stick to, which I didn’t realise there were to begin with, so we had to be very strict,” she said.

Guinness World Records will evaluate the attempt and make a decision about whether the children broke the record.

“Hopefully we’ll get a big certificate and they’ll be able to feel really proud of themselves,” Ms Sutton said.

She stressed the importance of children learning proper hand-washing technique.

“It’s all about teaching the children the importance of hand-washing, teaching them the best way for them to be washing their hands, and hopefully, just before we come into the winter season with all the bugs and germs, knowing exactly how to handle it and keep themselves healthy,” she said.

“We want children to be in really good habits because we feel that’s really important, to be able to look after each other and their families, and hand-washing is the simple way to do that.”

Specialist infection prevention and control nurse Jaiby Jacob praised the “brilliant initiative” taken on by schools and emphasised the importance of hand-washing.

“I’m very happy to see children understand the science behind why we are doing this and, in a way, what are the consequences if we don’t do hand-washing properly,” she told PA.

“The evidence says 80% of all infections are transmitted through hands, so that gives us action that if we wash our hands properly, we have the ability to prevent 80% of infections.

“Attendance (at school) is a major thing in this post-pandemic period, so the main tool we have got now is washing our hands with soap and water, so we are trying to encourage all our students to inculcate that habit within their childhood itself so that they can progress to a healthy adulthood.”