BC Children's Hospital - School Program

Program Objectives

The program objectives are: to help patients continue with their regular school work while in the hospital, to provide normalcy and routine to their days, and to help students stay connected to their home schools.

In addition to these goals, the children find the focus on school helps with the distraction from pain and worries about their illness. Educational objectives are determined by contacting the counselors and teachers and finding out what each student's class is doing and continuing that program whenever possible.

Further objectives are to keep all students up to date with their school program as much as possible or to set up a different program that will better meet their needs. Teachers strive to ease the concern over school work and help teachers understand the need to focus on the truly salient elements of the course work.

Students present with all range of abilities, from  those who have multiple disabilities to those who are in Honours academic programs

Referral Process

Students are either inpatients, outpatients or siblings of patients

Discharge

Either discharge from hospital or return to their home community

Many of our students are chronically ill and return to the hospital on a regular basis. Patients often drop in to the classroom when they are at follow up appointments and their parents. Program teachers will contact schools and arrange home instruction if a student is leaving hospital but will not be able to attend school.