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Great North Children's Hospital

'Members of the education team are highly skilled at adapting to particular needs' - Ofsted

'Pupils behave exceptionally well' - Ofsted

The Great North Children’s Hospital is a regional hospital for many specialised services within paediatrics. The intake of patients covers a wide Geographical area; north to the Scottish Borders, west to Cumbria and south to North Yorkshire. It also serves the national and international community as a centre of excellence. The Children’s Heart Unit at the Freeman Hospital provides care for children who need medical or surgical help for conditions involving the heart, lungs and airways. It is one of two units in the UK to carry out heart and lung transplants on children.

Newcastle Bridges School aims to maintain the continuity of education and fulfil a legal requirement for those pupils unable to attend their home school due to illness by providing education in hospital.

Pupils who are in hospital for three school days or more or who are recurrent patients have access to education. Pupils are taught from Reception to Year 11 unless they have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) where education can be provided for a wider age range.

Newcastle Bridges School aims to support all pupils to achieve their potential, inspire a love of learning and to minimise disruption to their education. We provide a high quality education whilst overcoming barriers to learning posed by a variety of medical conditions. This is achieved this through skilful assessment and the planning and delivery of personalised lessons enabling access to a broad and balanced curriculum. We make early contact with and work closely with home schools and where possible pupils will follow their schemes of work and planning. We also work closely with multidisciplinary teams and specialist services to provide learning experiences based on individual needs. Pupils develop both socially and emotionally in response to one to one support and guidance. Some pupils are also supported through external examinations.

Teaching Areas

We provide teaching across over 12 wards with most teaching taking place 1:1 at the bedside, teaching takes place between 9.30am and 12.00pm and 1.00pm to 3.00pm. Pupils have an opportunity to access education sessions in both the morning and the afternoon, though not all pupils are available or able to work for both sessions due to medical needs. Pupils who are able to leave the ward may be taught in our classroom.

Pupils with SEND

We have a range of resources to help engage and meet the needs of pupils with SEND. Our team includes teachers and support staff with a wide and varied knowledge and experience, for example in supporting pupils with an acquired brain injury. We communicate with the pupil's home school, parents and other professionals to ensure learning experiences are in line with pupil’s current needs.