Why school can be the best medicine for children in hospital

Irish Examiner

13-05-2025

Every morning across Ireland there are parents contemplating whether their child really is 'too sick' to go to school.
Meanwhile, the pupils of Temple Street Hospital School, at CHI at Temple Street, are attending classes from their hospital beds and even isolation units to avoid missing out on the childhood experience. All the while, its teachers are doing everything in their power to help children thrive, despite inadequate staff numbers and limited resources.
The principal of the hospital school is calling for an end to staffing shortages at the facility amid struggles to provide one-to-one classes for its young patients.
Ann Higgins was speaking as HOPE congress 2025 takes place this week in Dublin. Hosted by HOPE — the hospital teachers of Ireland — the event includes everything from panel discussions to testimonials from former patients, and the staffing challenges facing hospital teachers across Ireland.
Ms Higgins said her school currently has 18 school-going patients. While the hospital classroom can facilitate small groups, many of the children are unable to leave their hospital beds. This poses obvious challenges for the team, which is made up of two secondary and three primary school teachers.
Despite their limited numbers, staff members including deputy principal Ciara Jenkins have been doing everything they can to ensure kids don't miss out on important educational milestones including school tours.
The Gate Theatre and Dublin Zoo were among the locations visited by some hospital school students who have been well enough to enjoy temporary leave from hospital.
Teachers also take a proactive approach by individualising lesson plans to cater to the child's interests. Ms Higgins is keen to see the team expand to ensure more children suffering from illnesses and physical trauma receive individual attention.
She said urgent action is needed in response to staffing issues.
'It is groundbreaking what is happening here at the moment because we're going to have the National Council for Special Education reviewing our staffing allocation. This is really important because we don't have enough staff here. The first thing any hospital school will tell you is that we are pretty much predominantly understaffed. This is because our staffing allocation hasn't been reviewed by the Department of Education for years.
'For example, today our deputy principal had 18 children on two wards. These are not like the children you have in your run-of-the-mill classrooms. Students are in wards. They are in beds after surgery. Some of them can't get out of their beds. Teachers come to kids in isolation with PPE equipment. We are talking about every type of need. These children, generally speaking, need one-to-one support but this is just not possible.'
Temple Street Hospital School principal Ann Higgins. Picture: Gareth Chaney
She expressed hope that their concerns over staffing levels will be listened to and heard.
'We had our first visit from the NCSE and we've been told that there will be a second visit looking at our staffing. Obviously time is of the essence. We are fighting to have our voices heard.
'The recently-formed National Association of Special School Principals are supporting us too and have written to the NCSE to try and ensure that we have our staffing review done in a timely way. This will help us look at what staffing we're going to have on site for September. It will enable us to do recruitment in line with every other school in the country instead of always being on the back foot.
'It's really difficult because we are presented in here every day with a different number of children. For us, every single day is like the first day of September.
'We have a database and we upload our enrolment for the day and every day that's different. It's very challenging for teachers because they might have children who are here for a longer stay. Those children would always be prioritised for the teacher. However, we also have a cohort of children that is changing literally on a daily basis. Hospital schools are categorised by the Department of Education as special schools. However, up until recently we weren't supported by the NCSE.
'It's a huge development to think we will be supported by them. This is also a huge milestone for hospital schools.'
The principal spoke about what sets hospital teachers apart.
'The teachers have to be thinking on their feet constantly. They are the most creative and intuitive teachers because they need to be.
'Other teachers in schools can plan for their whole year in advance. Our teachers have to plan every day. They may even make a plan for the following day. However, that can go belly up for all kinds of reasons.'
She described the positive impact their school has on its pupils' social and emotional development.
'There was a little boy here who was due to start junior infants last September. When the time came for his first day of school he just wasn't well enough. It was an awful shame he was missing out on meeting all his classmates. His teacher and our teacher worked together and they organised for him to have a zoom call every single morning he came to the hospital classroom. They clicked into his classroom down the country and watched all his little pals. Every one of them could see him and they made sure he was doing the same activities as his classmates in the school at the same time. It meant that when the time came for him to go back to school they all knew him.
'The teacher often came on screen and chatted to him so that when he was eventually well enough to attend school for the first time they were all familiar to him.'
Teachers at the school often liaise with other frontline workers to establish the best way forward for the children.
'We don't work in isolation. We're part of a multidisciplinary team where there will be a lot of discussion with people involved in all of the disciplines including speech and language therapy, physiotherapy, and occupational therapy. This is never a teacher going off on a solo run. It's always a team decision when deciding if a child is well enough to do their exams.'
She lauded the determination of her students.
'Children are often sitting their junior search exams here. They can be children who are here for a long period of time. Some think they have missed out on the opportunity until we explain that we can set ourselves up as an exam centre and collect the papers from a nearby school. The children and their determination is the most important part for me. We had a young man who did his junior cert here last year who started his exams in the hospital classroom only to find he was in too much pain to sit in the chair for long periods. He continued the rest of his exams from his bedside and was facilitated in doing his exams there. We will do everything we can to be as adaptable as possible.'
Deputy principal Ciara Jenkins said the school experience can normalise hospital for many children.
Temple Street Hospital School vice principal Ciara Jenkins at CHI at Temple Street. Picture: Gareth Chaney
'It mimics the school experience for them in a way that normalises hospital,' Ms Jenkins explained.
'The kids are used to coming and learning with other children in the classroom setting, so it certainly helps with that kind of thing.
'They also make little pals as well. The kids often ask about their friends and are keen to catch up with them.
'They know what's expected of them in a school setting whereas the hospital can be an uncertain environment for them. It's scary sometimes. When it comes to their health you know that the children don't have a choice but in school we try and offer lots of choice to make them feel that little bit of control. They want to be able to experience normality.'
A Department of Education spokesperson said the department 'provides funding and staffing for schools attached to seven hospitals where children are treated as inpatients'.
'The department also funds education provision in a small number of on-site schools attached to Camhs inpatient units.
'As part of the annual special school staffing review, the staffing arrangements for hospital schools and schools attached to Camhs units are currently being reviewed.
'The National Council for Special Education is leading on this work and engaging directly with these schools. The outcome of the review process will be communicated directly to each of the schools concerned.'