The Learning Zone at Poole Hospital
The Learning Zone at Poole Hospital
Thank you for taking a few moments to read more about the Poole Hospital School service run by The Quay School.
Our aim is to ensure that young people are not disadvantaged by their stay in hospital and that education makes a positive contribution to their recovery.
Our skilled and experienced team can typically work with up to 11 students on a single day and over 150 different students during the course of a month. This demands an extremely high degree of flexibility, capability and professionalism, all delivered in what can be a highly sensitive setting.
Who is the school for?
All young people of school age, admitted to Poole Hospital, are offered the opportunity to use the Poole Hospital School Service, even if their stay is for just a few hours.
We work with students from a wide range of social, economic and ethnic backgrounds and a broad diversity of ability.
How it works
Flexibility and innovation are essential to delivering education successfully in an often-unpredictable hospital environment.
Teaching staff join medical staff on the morning ward round, to assess which students could access the school service that day. This does not prevent us engaging with students who arrive unexpectedly later in the day.
We maintain a classroom environment, the Learning Zone, for those able to attend and also provide teaching support at the bedside. Accessing the Learning Zone helps students to improve their well-being, by encouraging social interaction.
The educational team endeavour to work with as many students as possible, in a manner appropriate to their situation. The team comprises a qualified teacher supported by a higher-level teaching assistant and teaching assistant.
Curriculum
We endeavour to reduce the impact that may occur on a student’s education due to their stay in hospital. To achieve this, we assess whether a student is likely to be with us for a short stay (under five days) or a long stay (over five days, even if not consecutive).
As far as possible, we encourage students to maintain contact with their usual or home school. For long stay students we build relationships with the home school, to make it easier for students to keep up with their peers.
Students will be assessed on arrival to the classroom, short term targets will be made and lessons are prepared to meet their individual needs. During the morning students will normally access both Literacy and Numeracy work. After lunch, students and staff read for 15 minutes. Following this, there will be a Science, PSHCE or Humanities lesson and then students can enjoy enrichment activities.
We have developed good links with the classroom in Dorchester Hospital “The Kingfisher Learning Centre” which is part of the Dorchester Learning Centre.
Links
Please click on the links below for more information .
