FAQs

It is a really good idea to bring your schoolwork with you. Also let your teachers know that you are going into hospital, so that they can get work together for you and let other teachers know that you will be away.

You don't have to go to school, but lots of young people quite like doing so, because it is a good place to meet other young people and there are lots of things to do to keep you busy.

Of course you can. You can choose which lessons you want to go to and you can stay for as long or as little as you like.

But of course the teachers would like you to stay for longer, but only if you are feeling up to it.

You might be taught in a small group in the hospital school, in a one-to-one situation on the ward, or even at your bedside.

In most cases, a teacher will be able to come and work with you at the bedside for up to an hour a day. If you are a long-stay patient, you might even be able to use your own laptop to access the school's connection to the London Grid for Learning. More and more beds now have access to the hospital's Patient Bedside Education and Entertainment (PBEE) computer terminals. These provide filtered access to the internet to help you keep in touch with your home school, friends and family.

The hospital school teaches all of the usual core subjects you find in your normal school: literacy, numeracy, english, maths and science are almost always taught as standard.

In addition, depending on the number of teachers available and staff expertise, you might be lucky to have access to other curriculum subjects such as art, design technology, history, geography, ICT, PSHE, and even PE!

There could be just a couple or there might be a small group of between five and 15. Every day is different and so it is difficult to be exact.

Not all hospitals will have a school and dedicated schoolroom facilities, but many now have teachers working on the wards and there may be areas for quiet study. 

The National Curriculum is normally followed where appropriate, but hospital schools can deviate from it if they need to.

This is a bit more difficult to answer. A lot will depend on your own situation, but you will always be welcome in the hospital school if you are an inpatient.

As long as you let the Hospital School know in advance that you are going to be in hospital during your exams, they will try and make all the necessary arrangements for you. You might even be able to take your exams in hospital!

Yes, the hospital teacher will usually contact your home school teacher to help plan what will be best for you while you are in hospital. Speak to the hospital teacher about this if you have any concerns, and make sure your home school teachers know that you are going to be away. Ask them for any work you might need or even just topic headings so that the teachers here can make sure you are covering the same areas of study as your peers.

Hospital schools are usually well resourced and you should be able to borrow books, pens and paper, but try and bring your own if you can. If you are a long stay or recurring patient you might even be able to hook-up your own laptop or tablet PC to help you with your  school work.

Unfortunately, there often isn't the space for brothers and sisters unless they too are going to be away from home for a long time. Ask your family to speak with the Hospital School Headteacher to see if they can accommodate your sisters/brothers whilst you are a patient here.

Not always, but quite often they might have access to teachers who can speak a variety of different languages. Check with your individual school.

Every hospital school will have someone in charge of special educational needs. This person is usually called a SENCO and they will be able to help you with any individual needs that you might have. Rest assured that everyone is always welcome.

More and more schools are now using email, as well as phone and fax, to help young people to stay in touch. Your school might even have its own Managed Learning Environment (MLE), to help you stay in touch with your work while you are away. If you have a VLE/MLE login please make sure you bring it with you so that you can access your own school's learning resources.

A good first step is your career's advisor or your local Connexions Service. Visit the Central London Connexions website for more information.