The Children’s Hospital School provides appropriate education for students who are too ill to attend their mainstream school. Our role is to support, educate and enable students to reintegrate as, when, and if appropriate. The length of time students are with us, varies from a few days at the Leicester Royal Infirmary to over a year at the Willow Bank Day School. Often students move through different parts of our school as dictated by the state of their health and other circumstances.

The Children’s Hospital School comprises of four provisions. You can find out more about each school base below.

At the Leicester Royal Infirmary we offer education to any child of school age during their time as an inpatient. We work in consultation with the family, home school, medical and nursing staff. On the children’s wards we teach in cubicles and at bedsides, bringing laptops, tablets and other teaching resources to the students. Where it is possible, we follow the curriculum provided by the child’s own school in order to minimise the impact of their absence from school.

Willow Bank Day School provides an education for Key Stage 4 students (Years 10 & 11) who are unable to access education in their own school for medical reasons. Each student has a personalised timetable comprising core and foundation subjects. We also offer Arts Award, a vocational element, and a therapeutic curriculum, as appropriate. Individual timetables are designed to meet students’ academic needs, whilst taking account of health and emotional factors.

We provide access to education for inpatients, assuming their health permits, providing a range of activities and supporting students to maintain their studies within a safe and enabling setting. We liaise closely with home schools / colleges and other agencies to aid transition back into mainstream settings.

The Magpie Learning centre provides education for students in Years 5 – 10 who are unable to access education in their own school due to medical reasons. A broad and balanced curriculum is offered to support each student’s education until they are able to return to school. Both long and short term placements are offered at this provision.

Our newest provision, set within the historic Atkins Building in Hinckley town centre, provides education for pupils in Years 7-11 who are finding it difficult to access education in their own school due to mental and / or physical health. Pupils follow a timetable comprising both academic and therapeutic elements which is designed to meet their specific needs.

The school provides an excellent education for pupils in a safe and caring environment. Although the school is made up of a number of different provisions, we work closely together and towards the shame shared beliefs and values. Excellent teamwork is a strong feature across the whole school and we maintain very positive relationships with other professional colleagues who support us in providing care for our young people. We have 67 Teaching, Support and Administrative staff working across all parts of our school.

We have established first class partnerships locally, nationally land internationally as we continually seek to develop both ourselves and others. We are ambitious and our vision is to become and outstanding, innovative, outward looking school. Our logo ‘Better Together’ says it all. We are a small school, full of caring, supportive and talented staff. It is a place where mutual support goes hand in hand with excellent education and care. A school whose guiding principles are about making the difficult times manageable, giving pupils a great education and helping them move on successfully to their next phase of learning.

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