More than 10 students per year receive their education from their hospital rooms. When their state of health allows it and to help them maintain a more or less normal childhood, teachers and various means are placed at their disposal. Find out right away how the school works at the hospital.

There are many links between pediatric care centers and certain schools or schools to ensure the education of children and adolescents on a temporary basis. Teachers are therefore responsible for training students, from kindergarten to XNUMXth grade. Priority is then given to children staying in hospital for a long time, in order to prevent the disease from having too much of an impact on schooling. The subjects on which the emphasis is placed are French and mathematics, then science and history-geography if the child’s fatigue is not disabling. They can also have the opportunity to awaken to art and culture through fun and cultural activities.

All the work carried out in the hospital is taken into account in the child’s school curriculum to allow him to return to a school upon discharge. The grades are validated and exams such as the baccalaureate or the patent can be taken from the hospital center. Classes take place in a room for the most vulnerable, or in a common room for others. Nearly 800 teachers are stationed each year in a health establishment to allow children to maintain a link with the school.

For all children who cannot have access to teachers in a medical environment, there is also the possibility of following distance learning courses via the CNED (national center for distance learning). They can also benefit from on-site educational assistance thanks to associations such as that of “The school at the hospital” in Île de France or the FEMDH (federation for the education of patients at home and in hospitals). .

The teachers are most often volunteers who work within the framework of an agreement signed with the Ministry of National Education, and are recruited both on the basis of their skills and their motivation.

Finding time for each child and adapting to their care schedule is not always easy. The teachers must therefore coordinate and share the different schedules with the medical teams to take advantage of each moment of the child’s freedom.

It all starts with a meeting with the child and the teachers to discuss, understand his motivations, take stock of his level and the various courses planned. A school project will thus be defined, in agreement with the doctors and the nursing teams, to help the child to project himself and stick to his state of health with an adapted rhythm.

The forms of learning and the places are also adapted to the child’s illness. The computer then takes an important place and allows to create links with families and friends back at school.

A difficult job and very different from a traditional position, the teacher at the hospital requires various knowledge and skills:

• To know the diseases and the techniques of care, as well as the effects which they can induce in the patients concerning their learning
• Knowing how to work in partnership with different teams (medical and school)
• Succeed in adapting the programs to each particular case
• Be very available, attentive and respect the child’s right to medical confidentiality
• Finally, knowing how to manage the fatigue and moods of the child as well as his own emotions in the face of illness and suffering

Sometimes, the child’s state of health does not allow him to resume normal schooling when he leaves the hospital. It is then possible to consider setting up a home school system. Parents should therefore turn to home educational assistance services (SAPADs). If this solution is envisaged for the most fragile children or having difficulties of mobility and accessibility in the premises of a so-called “traditional” school, it does not necessarily constitute an ideal solution because it is very unsociable for the young pupil. . In an attempt to solve this problem, part-time education at school and the rest of the time at home can be arranged.

To allow the child to keep a link with a “normal” life and to regain self-confidence, it is important to continue his education, even in a hospital environment. Thus he projects himself into the future and learns to better accept his state of health and his illness.