New River College provides education to all school-age students on the Ifor Ward at the Whittington Hospital in Archway, north London. Children are taught in our specially equipped classroom, on the ward or in cubicles.
In the hospital classroom, we aim to provide all students with access to a relevant, fun and engaging curriculum. We do this through a theme-based approach for Key Stages 1 to 3 students, which provides consistency and continuity with learning in mainstream schools. Our themes are matched to individual student’s needs and key objectives from the National Curriculum, which allows students to make progress with their education while absent from school.
Conversations with KS4 students enable us to provide a personalised programme of support, with learning focused on students’ individual courses at school or college. We are also able to provide resources, past papers and access to IT to facilitate their learning for GCSE and other courses.
Given that students can be in hospital for a number of reasons that affect their wellbeing, our staff work flexibly with them, providing an individual programme of support. We aim to focus on the requirements of the National Curriculum but, at times, this may not be appropriate. Our staff are experienced and sensitive to the needs of children in the hospital and work closely with nurses, doctors and consultants.
When children feel well enough to engage with learning, they are asked to fill out an All About Me questionnaire. From this, teachers can find out what the child has been learning at school, what their favourite subjects are and if there is anything specific they would like to work on during their stay in hospital.
Working closely with our primary colleagues, we have developed a topic-based curriculum for children aged five to 14. We are confident that this offers something exciting and engaging for all and by referencing this to the child’s All About Me profile, we can identify topics that they will enjoy working on.
We have six main themes that link to what children will be learning in school – Humans, London, Relationships, Space, Sport and the Environment. These units incorporate work on English, Science and Humanities and cover objectives from the National Curriculum. We also celebrate and recognise important events during the year such as Black History Month, Remembrance Day, Chinese New Year and International Women’s Day. Where possible, the learning and teaching of Maths is integrated into the themed units but the emphasis is on developing the content and skills required in the National Curriculum.
At this age, most students are studying for their GCSEs and may feel anxious about missing school. They are confident in identifying what they would like to work on and our staff are able to facilitate this. Our classroom is resourced with textbooks, revision guides, computers, calculators, an iPad and scientific resources to enable students to access their work.
The curriculum is also enhanced by outreach visits to the ward from, for example, magicians, staff from the London Children’s Museum as well as animal encounters provided by ZooLab.
Sometimes children on the ward are unable to visit the classroom, so we offer them the opportunity to learn at their bedside. This can involve our teachers working with them or the school providing age-related learning trays from which students can select work relevant to their key stage. The school also has iPad, which children working from their bed can use to access educational games and the internet so they can continue with their studies.
If children have a planned stay on the ward for three days or more, we contact their school. We don’t discuss the reasons for a child being at the hospital but, in most cases, speak to their Head of Year about any particular school work we can support the child with.