PRIMARY school pupils wowed members of the community with their knowledge as they opened a 'healthy heart cafe' in their village.

Year 5 and 6 children at Finstock Church of England Primary School, near Charlbury, raised £180 for the British Heart Foundation as residents bought homemade food and enjoyed various activities at the cafe earlier this month.

Pupils produced healthy treats including banana muffins and vegetarian pizza, while green tea was served instead of a regular brew.

The youngsters also created displays on the impact of smoking and a model of the circulatory system, while adults were taught how to perform CPR and use a defibrillator.

The day rounded off a term of learning about the heart and school governor Rhyanne Young, whose son Leon was part of the defibrillator display, said the children certainly left an impression.

She said: “Lots of people from the village turned up and they were amazed at the knowledge of the children and how they could use the defibrillator.

“They were very excited to show their knowledge and have a big event at the end of term.”

The event was spearheaded by Year 5 and 6 teacher Sarah Adair and came days before Wednesday’s international Restart a Heart day, when thousands of pupils across the county were taught CPR by paramedics, police officers, military officials and firefighters.

Finstock is among a growing number of primary schools to install an Automated External Defibrillator (AED).

The children were taught how to use the kit by Drew Kamphuis, managing director of first aid training provider First For Safety.

Mrs Kamphuis revealed immediate CPR, combined with the use of an AED, can increase the chance of surviving an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest from eight to 80 per cent.

She said: “Every second counts in a cardiac arrest situation and everyone should be confident to perform effective CPR and use an AED.

“People need to get out of the mindset of waiting for an ambulance to arrive and expecting everything to be alright because ambulances frequently take longer to attend than most people would like. We need to start taking more responsibility.”