Meet Ann Higgins, Principal, Hospital School, Temple Street
As hundreds of thousands of children across the country prepare to return to school after the summer break, we caught up with Ann Higgins, Principal of Hospital School in Children’s Health Ireland at Temple Street to find out about day-to-day life in the hospital school.
Can you tell us a little about Hospital School?
When a child is in hospital it can be incredibly difficult and scary. For many, the option to attend school or have a class with a teacher at their bedside brings some normality and makes them feel safe.
We have three classrooms in the hospital – one in the school hub, and two satellite classrooms located in Top Flat and St Gabriel’s ward.Â
Our five school teachers, two special needs assistants and school secretary, work incredibly hard providing a mix of class learning, bedside lessons, and individual learning to patients of all ages and abilities across Temple Street, to ensure that a child’s education isn’t negatively impacted by their hospital stay.
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How important is it for children to be able to attend school whilst they are in hospital?
Everything can feel so uncertain in hospital, but the familiarity of school can be a real comfort and drastically improve the emotional wellbeing and potentially time of recovery of a child in hospital.
It is also so beneficial for a child to be able to take some time away from the ward to work together and learn alongside other patients of similar ages in the school classroom. It helps them feel less alone and shows them that there are other children facing similar challenges to them. Socialising is a huge part of school life and something children in hospital can miss out on.Â
So we try to afford the child opportunities for group activities and social experiences whilst in the hospital setting.
Some children may have to attend Temple Street a couple of days a week for specific ongoing treatments e.g.haemodialysis. The hospital school helps them keep some normality and consistency in their education during their treatment. For these regular patients and others who may need to stay in hospital for a longer period, we provide a link with their base school. Our teachers keep in touch with the child’s teacher/s to ensure they are following a similar curriculum to their classmates. We can also arrange zoom lessons or chats with their class back home to ensure they can keep in touch with their teachers and friends. This connection with school and friends is vitally important particularly for older children and teens.
The role of the hospital school is also to ensure a smooth transition for the child back to their base school. If a child has been under the care of the hospital for a prolonged period, we will try to help ease their transition, by working with their teacher to look at different ways of learning and ensuring the school has the correct facilities and equipment in place.
How has fundraising helped the school?
The generosity of Children’s Health Foundation’s Supporters has allowed us to create and furnish the two satellite classrooms in Top Flat and St Gabriel’s Ward. Without these classrooms we could not operate such a comprehensive and holistic educational service. Many children can’t get to the school hub so to have these smaller, accessible classrooms around the hospital ensures that we can provide a service to as many children as possible.
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The classroom at St Gabriel’s Ward, for example, is vital, as many of the children attend for neuro-surgical reasons and would be unable to safely move around the hospital. It is also easily accessible for the children in St Michael’s C Ward and enables them to continue their education in a safe and easy way.Â