A Day in the Life of Gloucestershire Hospital Education Service by Harvey Palmer

Upon arrival at GHES, I am given a tour of the ward, meeting some of the young people, aged 4-16 years old, who the team support. I am also introduced to the “play team” who help the younger inpatients. The challenges of this job are evident from the start – providing education either in a small classroom or bedside with young people in varying states of physical and psychological health.

The team offer all pupils and their families the opportunity to come to the classroom, receive bedside teaching, or miss study for the day. One boy in Year 3 does not feel well enough to receive education but opts to borrow an iPad and listen to an audio book whist trying to sleep (despite the sound of building works rattling around the ward!) In the classroom, a girl arrives for a one-to-one Maths lesson to prepare for her GCSEs. Not only is she learning the content, but also how to speak to a scribe in an exam situation as she is unable to write by herself. Within the same classroom, 3 pupils of similar primary school-age are engaged in English/Literacy lessons, reading and discussing newspaper articles, and also doing some PSHE-aligned activities focused on their emotions.

Spending the day at GHES was an eye-opening experience into how education is provided to young people who cannot attend their usual school setting. Teachers only find out in the morning which pupils they will have that day and so must be completely adaptable to an ever-changing register of students. I highly recommend spending a day at GHES – the teachers are incredibly dedicated, putting every shred of effort into giving the pupils in their care a sense of normality amid some of the most difficult experiences they will face in their lives, during these crucial developmental years.