Building Relationships Across Networks to Support Students in Intensive Circumstances

Education and health are two inseparable aspects of a single dynamic which aims to support and increase the physical and mental well-being of children and young people. Children must be guaranteed two rights: the right to study and the right to health. Schools capable of reconciling these two fundamental needs are represented by school in hospital and home schooling. Thanks to this flexible teaching method, it is possible to support the child and his or her family during hospitalization, and to prevent consequences such as school failure and dropout. Hospitalization is always a traumatic event for children, in which white coats are unknown figures, perceived all the more threatening the younger the child: a threat to one’s integrity, loss of autonomy, distorted perception of time, loss of confidence, and a sense of abandonment. Therefore, it is important to create a communicative basis that facilitates the child’s adaptation to the new hospital environment and establishes continuity during this period of time. Teachers play a significant role within the context of such difficulties. They need to understand patients’ emotions and act as a bridge between the small inpatient room of the child and the outside world. In this article we examined: (1) the School in Hospital and the reasons why it is a valid resource for the psychophysical rehabilitation of the student in a hospital; (2) the role of the teacher in hospital and the difficult context in which the teacher has to work; and (3) how the school in hospital was challenged by the SARS-CoV2 pandemic.

Basic awareness, or declarative knowledge of HLPs for students with disabilities is widespread amongst teachers and school leaders thanks to the past few years of dissemination efforts by CEC, OSEP/USDOE, and other agencies. Unfortunately, declarative knowledge alone will not result in teacher and student improvement. Instead, teachers and school leaders need procedural (how to) and conditional (when, and for whom) knowledge of HLPs and other practices to really make a difference. In this session, school leaders will build upon their existing declarative knowledge of HLPs to work towards development of procedural and conditional knowledge by engaging with effective models, options for observing and delivering feedback, and gathering needed resources for immediate use.

Join Andy Johnson, Executive Director of Education, and Gill Albone, Lead Teacher at the Cranbury College Hospital Teaching Service, for this month’s episode! Gill shares the invaluable work of this team who tirelessly support children of all ages admitted to the Dolphin and Lion wards of the Royal Berkshire Hospital. Gill discusses their bespoke 1:1 teaching, personalised curriculums, and how the team liaise with key stakeholders to support the students’ holistic and academic progress during challenging times.