School inside hospital wins praise - Ofsted success for St Mary's classroom
Published: 21 May 2010
by JAMIE WELHAM
THE silver lining of being confined to a hospital bed as a youngster was having an impregnable excuse for not having done your homework.
But these days a broken leg or bout of pneumonia won’t get you so much as a free period because Ofsted have started visiting hospital wards. The St Mary’s Hospital school has just been declared “outstanding” by government inspectors. It caters for children aged four to 18, with pupils even able to join in lessons from their beds via webcams.
Assistant headteacher Maria Marinho said: “The success of the school is down to staff using creativity to strive to meet the individual needs of pupils. We work closely with teachers from the pupils’ previous school as well as other agencies like social services, and parents really value the fact that our work doesn’t stop in the hospital – we work with children who are sick at home too.”
There has been educational provision at the Paddington hospital for the past 20 years.
It can cater for between 15 and 23 pupils at any one time.