By Mary Ward
In 1923, patients in Sydney’s Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children were mostly suffering from infectious diseases such as polio and diphtheria. While Santa would make an annual visit, their physical treatment was the focus, with all other areas of their lives put on hold once admitted.
It was NSW’s inspector of schools Martha Simpson, an early Montessori advocate, who realised the city’s sick children were missing out on an education, after learning a young patient had taught himself to read in his bed.
A scene from the Fred Birks school in 1946.
Starting as a reading program facilitated by volunteers, the Fred Birks Activity School formally opened in the grounds of the hospital in 1930 with 16 pupils.
One hundred years on from those first steps towards education for sick kids, there are now 10 schools located in hospitals across NSW.
Each with a principal and teachers on staff, the schools are run by the NSW Department of Education and follow the state’s K-12 curriculum.
Children working on the verandah in 1930.
The largest is Westmead Hospital School, which has both primary and secondary classrooms for the thousands who spend time in the children’s hospital wards each year, as well as their siblings.
Their school day starts at 9.30am and finishes at 3.30pm, and the timetable looks familiar: there is a morning circle, followed by maths and English, in the afternoon they tackle lessons in art, drama or science.
But teacher Megan Vella said lessons were very flexible because of the rotating class list, the range of ages in the room and the individual circumstances of each child.
“You never know who’s coming into the classroom; you don’t know what emotion they have, what may have happened the previous day,” she said.
“Maybe they need a maths lesson or maybe they just need some downtime and someone to talk to.”
Despite the range of ages, Vella said the children at the school make strong friendships based on their shared circumstances.
Alaycia Wright, left, and Mahalia Zammit in class at Westmead Hospital School.Credit: Brook Mitchell
When The Sun-Herald visited the primary class at Westmead last week, Year 5 student Mahalia Zammit, who was first admitted to hospital with a functional neurological disorder last year, was playing maths games with her friend Year 3 student Alaycia Wright, whose family temporarily relocated to Sydney from Orange six months ago while her brother receives cardiac treatment.
A nurse popped into the classroom to check Mahalia’s tubes as she tallied the numbers from her winning rolls of the dice.
The girls said they found hospital school “a little bit easier” than regular school. Both said maths was their favourite subject, although Alaycia is an avid reader.
“I read every night, 20 pages,” she said.
Children can be enrolled at the school for as little as a few days. But for a small number, it is the only school they have known.
Five-year-old Gracie Jepson has attended the Westmead Hospital School since starting kindergarten.Credit: Brook Mitchell
With an older brother undergoing cancer treatment, Gracie Jepson, from the Central Coast, has been at Westmead Hospital School since starting kindergarten this year.
“I like doing maths and seeing my friends,” she said.
Teachers at the hospital liaise with students’ “home schools” throughout their stay. Children remain enrolled at these schools – including those in the independent and Catholic sector – throughout their time in hospital school.
Wendy Barwell, principal of the RPA Hospital School, said hospital school was “an extension” of a child’s regular school experience.
With a smaller number of young patients at RPA, her school mostly teaches children for shorter periods of time, visiting them at their bedside and sometimes being called in as early as when a child is admitted to emergency.
“There can be a perception that these kids are too ill or too sick to do schoolwork, but we are showing in this space that we can do work that helps regulate the child,” Barwell said.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, RPA Hospital School provided lessons for students in hotel quarantine.
Molly Croft, a Year 11 student from Dubbo, was diagnosed with bone cancer on her 12th birthday. What followed was more than two years at Westmead Children’s Hospital, enrolled at the hospital’s school with her sister.
Dubbo sisters Molly and Maddison Croft attended hospital school while Molly received cancer treatment in Sydney. Pictured during Molly’s stay (left) and this year.
“I was super naughty at the start,” the now 17-year-old recalled.
“When they told me I had to do school in hospital I was like ‘no way’, and for the first few weeks when the teacher came in I would pretend I was asleep.”
But over her time at Westmead, which included months of bedside lessons and transitioning from primary school to high school, Croft came around. Now, catching up with her teachers at the hospital school is the highlight of a return trip to Sydney.
“I love them so much. They gave me a bit of normality in such a hectic time,” she said.
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