Nursery World - A Unique Child: Hospital School

For children unable to attend school due to ill health, hospital
education provides a way to keep up with work - and also smooths the way
for reintegration with their peers. By Jenny Craigen

Last summer I retired after working for nine years, under the direction of Somerset County Council, as the teacher at the Children's Education Unit, the hospital school at Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton, Somerset. This work, of course, continues in the capable hands of my successor. Like me, she is finding this an enjoyable and privileged role.

Statutory guidance from the Department for Education states that local authorities must arrange suitable education for children who are unable to attend school because of their health. The authority must provide appropriate education as soon as it is clear that a child will be away from school for 15 days or more, whether consecutive or cumulative. This 'alternative provision', as it is has been known since 2013, should prevent them from slipping behind their peers and allow them to reintegrate successfully back into school as soon as possible, acquiring appropriate qualifications as needs be.

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