Urgent Appeal!
Who We Are
The Friends of Chelsea Children’s Hospital School aims to support the activities of Chelsea Community Hospital School (CCHS), a hospital school network that operates across multiple sites in London, including Chelsea & Westminster Hospital, The Royal Brompton Hospital, St. Mary’s Hospital, Collingham Child & Family Centre (a residential pediatric psychiatric unit) and at Lavender Walk (a mental health facility for adolescents aged 13-18). Each year CCHS works with over 2000 children, while they undergo treatment for a wide range of chronic physical and mental health conditions, who would otherwise be unable to access and continue with their education and learning whilst in hospital.
What We Do
As a school we aim to provide equal access to the curriculum and school’s facilities to all our pupils irrespective of gender, ability, ethnicity, social circumstance and location but priority is given to long-stay pupils, recurrent pupils, pupils taking exams, pupils with special needs, community pupils (pupils who are only on register at the hospital school), pupils receiving education at home, who are unable to attend mainstream school because of medical or mental health needs, and children between the ages of 3- 5 who are under statutory school age but who have a Statement of Special Educational Needs and are entitled to education whilst in hospital.
We work within and sometimes beyond the framework of the National Curriculum to ensure that teaching and learning is lively, fun, challenging, and always appropriate to the individual needs of each and every child. To do this we employ subject specialists who have a passion for teaching and also liaise closely with teachers in pupils’ home schools to ensure as much joined-up working, continuity, and normality as possible. To enrich and enhance the curriculum we also work with a wealth of visiting artists and experts from local museums, galleries, and businesses to diversify and enliven the curriculum for all our pupils. We also utilise the services of our fantastic volunteers who provide much-needed additional support.
Why We Need Your Help
The impact of being exposed to Covid-19 on already chronically sick children can be catastrophic. As schools return to the classroom it is essential that we keep this highly vulnerable cohort of children and young people as safe as possible whilst maintaining and progressing their education. To do this we have been adopting a hybrid learning approach (face to face and online learning) in our classrooms using a variety of online apps and internet-enabled devices to facilitate Anytime, Anywhere Learning during the Covid-19 lockdown. This has proven to be very successful and we have managed to keep our pupils, from across our different sites, motivated, engaged, learning, following the National Curriculum, and having fun!
Please Help Us Reach More Children
We now urgently need your help to extend this capability by purchasing additional laptops to provide learning opportunities across our multiple hospital sites enabling those ward-based pupils, and pupils self-isolating at home who cannot access school, to participate and collaborate in lessons with their peers and teachers and not be left behind. Each laptop costs £560 and each iPad £345. Can you donate or help sponsor a laptop or iPad for a child in hospital?
We also need to equip our brand new hospital school premises in Bayswater (we had to vacate our previous site at short notice due to Covid-19 infections control measures) with ten PCs and Internet connectivity and be ready to respond to a potential second wave of Coronavirus, which would necessitate further isolation and a return to greater use of online learning. Each PC costs £469 and each wireless access point £150.
Hospital School Makes a Difference!
"During lockdown I found it very difficult and being isolated from the people I care about felt completely unbearable. When I found out that there was a small place that we could go from Monday to Friday during lockdown to do schoolwork I was so excited.
I did have times where I was nervous and worried, but going in gave me confidence in learning and in myself to get through the whole pandemic. After the summer and getting the email that we have a new and permanent school building I was so intrigued and desperate to see it.
On the first day it felt strange but also so fun and new! I absolutely love the new school, the space, the outside and just being able to see my friends and teachers again. I am very grateful for this school". Pupil MC
"What’s it like being back at school? To be frank, I enjoy going back to school because I like learning, it’s all so much fun, the children here are so friendly and kind.
One thing I’ve learnt being in school is to work hard and enjoy it because you only have one life and you need education to succeed in life and also for a better future.
In the future, I would love to become a successful actress who works hard and is grateful for what they’ve got and someone who doesn’t judge people because of where they come from or their past". Pupil KC
Please Help By Donating and Spreading the Word?
Our bid is to help fund urgently needed laptops, iPads, and internet connectivity, and to be able to extend learning opportunities for hospitalised and clinically vulnerable patients at our new school site in Bayswater and across our multiple hospital school sites in London.
There are only a few days left to help raise much-needed funds, so please donate what you can and spread the word on your social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Linkedin, etc.) with your friends, family and colleagues. Perhaps you know a wealthy benefactor?
Every £ raised really does make a difference!
Let's do everything we can to ensure that this group of medically vulnerable children and young people can study safely, free from the risk of infection, and receive the necessary educational input and support they so urgently need and richly deserve.
Thank you so much!
FCCHS Fundraising Team.