"The Hospital/Home Tuition Service provides temporary educational support for pupils who are unable to attend school for medical reasons."
"The purpose is to minimise disruption to education for children who are physically ill, injured, or have mental health difficulties and to provide as full curriculum access as is possible to enable these pupils to return smoothly to their mainstream schooling experience as soon as their health permits."
The service also provides temporary educational support for pregnant schoolgirls and young mothers.
The Hospital/Home Tuition Service
The Hospital/Home Tuition Service provides temporary educational support for pupils who are unable to attend school for medical reasons. The purpose is to minimise disruption to education for children who are physically ill, injured, or have mental health difficulties and to provide as full curriculum access as is possible to enable these pupils to return smoothly to their mainstream schooling experience as soon as their health permits.
The service also provides temporary educational support for pregnant schoolgirls and young mothers.
Contact details: -
The Co-ordinator
Home Tuition Service
CFAS
County Hall Tel: 01482 392209/392211
Beverley Fax: 01482 392850
HU17 9BA E-Mail: hometuition.service@eastriding.gov.uk
How soon after pupils become ill can they receive support?
Pupils who are expected to be absent from school for more than 15 working days are eligible to receive support once the co-ordinator for home tuition has received a recommendation from the appropriate authority confirming that it would be inadvisable for the child to attend school.
Recommendations with regard to physical illness or injury are generally sought from the Senior Clinical Medical Officer or from the Hospital Consultant who has been treating the child. On those occasions where a child is suffering from severe emotional or psychological problems, which prevent attendance at school, a recommendation will be sought from the Clinical Psychology Team (CAMHS).
Who should request support from the service?
Every school has a member of staff with responsibility for pupils who cannot attend because of medical needs. This member of staff should see that the co-ordinator of the service is contacted promptly and a request made for the allocation of a home tutor. Requests for support come most frequently from pupils and schools but may occasionally come direct from the child`s specialist/consultant, or the medical team at the hospital where they are being treated. Sometimes requests come from an Education Welfare Officer.
Parents who feel their child meets service criteria should make a request for home tuition via the school where they are enrolled.
How should support be requested for a pupil with medical needs?
Contact details for the service can be found on this site. Requests for support should be made at the earliest opportunity directly to the co-ordinator of the service. Most requests are made by telephone.
Parents who feel their child meets service criteria should make a request for home tuition via the school where they are enrolled.
What information will be needed when requesting support?
It is helpful if the person who contacts the service can provide the following information: -
Pupil's name
Date of birth
Address
Telephone number(s)
Name of parent/carer
School attended
Reason for request
Name and contact details for Consultant and GP
Name of person making request
Please leave the above information, with brief details of why you are making the request, and a contact number where you may be reached. Your call will be returned
at the earliest opportunity.
Parents who feel their child meets service criteria should make a request for home tuition via the school where they are enrolled.
What happens when pupils are ready to return to school?
All pupils receive support from the service in the knowledge that their ultimate goal should be to return to school as soon as their health permits.
Most pupils are able to return to full time education once their convalescence is over. Should special arrangements be advised by health professionals then school and tutor, in consultation with parents, will ensure they are in hand.
However, if the necessary arrangements are complex or the pupil has emotional difficulties and is anxious, then the tutor may make arrangements for a supported return to school. Following consultation with pupil, parent, school, and service an individual programme of gradual reintegration will be arranged tailored to the pupil`s needs. Tutors often provide tuition sessions on the school site, or in-class support, as a means of helping their pupils gradually adjust to the school environment.
Can pupils supported by the service take GCSE examinations?
Yes, every year students who are not fit enough to attend the school where they are enrolled take GCSE or other public examinations whilst receiving support from the service. Where possible pupils go into school to take their exams in a quiet room but if their health does not permit this then, following negotiations between service and school, arrangements are made for them to take their exams in their own homes. Most achieve grades comparable with those they were expected to achieve had they been in school, and some surpass predicted grades.
What support is available for pregnant schoolgirls and young mothers?
The Hospital/Home Tuition Service provides support for pregnant schoolgirls and young mothers in the same way as it does for children with medical needs. However, girls are encouraged to remain at school for as long as they can as tuition is not generally provided until around the seventh month of pregnancy. Some continue to study in school beyond this point.
Once a tutor has been allocated tuition takes place at home and pupils continue to work towards their GCSE examinations. Young mothers are expected to return to school once they are fit to do so but attendance is tailored to fit individual circumstances and, for most pupils, will involve a gradual reintroduction to school to allow both mother and baby to adjust.
How should support for pregnant schoolgirls and young mothers be requested?
Schools are asked to inform the Education Welfare Service as soon as they become aware that there is a girl on their roll who might require support. The Education Programme Worker for Teenage Pregnancy will make an assessment and act as a link with the Home Tuition Service.
Parents of girls who require support are asked to contact the service via the school where they are enrolled.
