Who is the service for?

The service is for

• children and young people of school age who have medical needs.
• children who may miss a lot of school due to recurring illnesses eg asthma, sickle cell.

Priority is given to children and young people who will be away from school due to medical needs for more than 15 working days. This includes:

• long stay patients
• pupils who have bouts of recurring illnesses
• and additionally, any pupils studying for exams.

What happens when the pupil is admitted?

Each long term or recurring pupil is assigned a named hospital teacher.
The pupils are able to continue with their school work in the hospital classroom or on the wards.

What do the hospital teachers do?

The teachers

• attend weekly meetings with the medical multi-disciplinary team.
• contact the pupil’s home school’s named teacher to gather information about the pupil.
• plan a Personal Education Plan (PEP) for the pupil in consultation with pupil, home school, parent & medical personnel
• liaise with the home school for the pupil’s school work to be sent to the hospital teacher
• arrange for the pupil’s work to be returned to the home school to be marked

What should the home school do?

They should:

• have a named link teacher designated for any pupil referred to the hospital and home tuition service
• notify the EWS (Educational Welfare Service) if a pupil is/or likely to be absent from school for more than 15 days
• liaise with the hospital teacher to draw up a PEP for the pupil in agreement with pupil, parents and medical personnel
• provide the H&HTS with information about the curriculum for individual pupils
• provide the hospital teacher with relevant work and resources
• hold regular review meetings with the hospital teachers and parent/s, involving the young person when appropriate
• ensure pupils have access to public examinations
• arrange career interviews for pupils
• keep the pupil on roll

How can parents help?

They can:

• inform the home school if their child has a planned admission to hospital.
• inform the H&HTS of any planned admissions.
• collect work from their child’s home school class teacher prior to and during admission.
• act as a valuable link between the child’s home school and the hospital teachers.
• can inform the hospital teacher of any special educational need that their child may have.

How can hospital teachers assist the pupil’s return to school?

The hospital teachers liaise with the home school to ensure that an individual re-integration plan is in place for all pupils before returning to school.

Term Dates

These dates are in line with the dates set down by Wandsworth Local Education Authority.

Other Useful Information

“Access to education for children & young people with medical needs”

Wandsworth LEA’s policy for teaching pupils with medical needs