Hospital Education
Aims
To enable pupils to continue with their education whilst in hospital as far as their health permits.
To support the medical staff on Riverbank Ward by providing a therapeutic, enjoyable educational experience for children on the ward as part of the holistic approach to children’s wellbeing.
The Hospital Education Service also provides outreach tuition for Bedford Borough pupils who are unable to attend their school due to medical needs. The outreach service is a reintegration service that works with medical staff, parents, the child, and the child’s school to support a child’s transition back to school as soon as they are well enough to do so.
Outreach tuition always has the aim of supporting children to return to school and is not a long-term alternative for attending school.
Curriculum Delivery
Education is provided for all inpatients of school age, although priority is given to long stay or recurrent admissions. Lessons are taught by the Hospital Teacher.
Specialist subject teaching can be arranged for long stay or regular pupils.
Pupils are taught on the ward. Medical treatment will always take priority and we teach with a flexible and adaptable approach to accommodate this.
Outreach education delivers a tailored education programme that follows the national curriculum which is provided by the child’s school. We are guided by the advice of health professionals to ensure that the individual plan considers their needs.
The Hospital Education Outreach service has been established to enable pupils with medical needs to transition back to their school via the tailored programme of one-to-one tuition at home or at school.
Curriculum Content
Lessons are based on the National Curriculum and focus on core subjects English, Maths and Science. A range of other subjects are offered, depending on the pupil’s own interests, to provide a broad and balanced curriculum.
KS4 pupils are given support to access and manage their individual studies whilst in hospital.
SEN
IEPs and EHCPs are provided by the mainstream school and are implemented by the Hospital Education Teachers. Local Special schools provide appropriate resources and guidance for pupils with SEN who require a longer hospital admission.
Inclusion
All children of school age are encouraged to access education whilst in hospital but priority is given to pupils after Day 3 of their hospital admission.
Equal Opportunities/Diversity
Mainstream schools provide IEPs and the information is used to inform planning and target setting.
Literacy
All pupils are given opportunities to make progress in reading, writing and spelling at a level appropriate to their needs and health.
Topic based activities provide cross curricular literacy opportunities.
Numeracy
All pupils are given opportunities to make progress in numeracy at a level appropriate to their needs and health. Topic based activities provide cross curricular numeracy opportunities.
ICT
Pupils are given opportunities to use ICT to support their learning both on the ward and in outreach lessons.
Homework/Extended Learning
If pupils are well enough to complete homework or require extended opportunities to study this can be provided by the hospital education teachers.
Rewards and Praise
Praise and encouragement is given verbally to pupils, in comments on work, through incentive stickers and by sharing successes with parents and mainstream teachers.
Accreditation
Pupils are able to take GCSE and other examinations within the hospital building if medical staff and the mainstream school agree that this is appropriate.
Greys Education Centre is a Unicef Silver Rights Respecting School. Ofsted rated ‘Good’ (February 2024).
Telephone: 01234 408477 – Office Email: greys@biltt.org
Greys Education Centre is part of Bedford Inclusive Learning and Training Trust
Company Number: 08156641