At Birmingham Children's Hospital, James Brindley provide education for any children and young people, from Reception to Post-16, whilst they are receiving inpatient or regular day patient care.

We are one of the largest hospital schools in the world and, as such, we have a team of approximately 34 fully qualified and experienced teaching and support staff. The school can be found on the ground floor of the Hospital, where it has both Primary and Secondary classrooms.

The length of time pupils spend with us is dependent upon their medical needs and varies from a short stay to a much longer one. We understand that this can be a worrying time for pupils and parents or carers, and recognise the importance of good educational provision and the role it plays in trying to normalise a child’s life during their hospital stay. 

Our teachers work in conjunction with the pupil’s home school, whatever school they usually attend, as this can be anywhere in the UK!

If pupils are well enough to come to school, they will be taught in the classrooms but if, for any reason, they cannot they will be seen by our staff on the ward.  Each ward has an assigned teacher who is used to working with children who are unwell. 

We also have our own SENCO on-site, which allows us to help the medical team with any Education Health Care Plans (EHCP) that need to be in place for a pupil's return to their home school. We know what it takes to get children interested in learning, even if they're not feeling well. 

Throughout the year, we take our pupils on school trips, just like any other school. 

Discharge

If, at point of discharge, a pupil is still too unwell to attend their school for longer than 3 weeks, we will work in conjunction with the medical staff to make a referral to our short term provision (STP) team, or if outside the Birmingham area, to the relevant authority.  This way the pupil can still access education whilst awaiting return to their own school. 

Janine Zablocki
Hospitals Centre Leader

Contact: bch@jamesbrindley.org.uk