Departments

Little France Teaching – City of Edinburgh Council

The responsibility for arrangements for education lie with a child or young person’s home school / local authority ( Education of children unable to attend school due to ill health: guidance – gov.scot (www.gov.scot)).

Education authorities have a statutory duty, under section 14 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 to make special arrangements for pupils to receive education elsewhere than at an educational establishment, where they are satisfied that they are unable, or it would be unreasonable to expect them, to attend a suitable educational establishment as a result of their prolonged ill health.

A child or young person absent from school through ill health may receive treatment in a variety of settings such as a paediatric hospital, an adult hospital, a mental health facility, their own home or in a different school. In some cases, this may mean that the child or young person travels to a hospital which is located beyond the local authority area in which they live or in which they are educated. Education may be provided in any and all of these settings and the responsibility for doing so remains with the child or young person’s home authority, even if the services are delivered by specialist outreach services of the local authority in which the hospital is located.

A base for education support is situated in The Royal Hospital for Children and Young People. A small team of teachers employed by the City of Edinburgh Council can teach primary and secondary-age children and young people if their school makes a referral for support.

Learning and teaching can take place in classrooms on the fourth floor, as well as at the bedside or elsewhere within their ward.

The referral process

Hospital staff will identify children and young people who have planned admissions longer than 5 days and will signpost parents to the website containing information about Education of Children Unable to Attend School due to Ill Health. If parents and the child’s school wish to access the service provided by City of Edinburgh Council, their school should complete the appropriate referral form.

Referral Form for Children Attending City of Edinburgh Council Schools

Referral Form for Children Attending Independent Schools/ Schools in a Council Area Out with City of Edinburgh

If a child’s education is not provided by City of Edinburgh Council the following charges for the service will apply and the home school/ local authority will fund this.
2024/25 Hospital Teaching Costs – Independent Schools/ Out of Authority


1 -1 Hospital Teaching	per hour	£115.78
Small class hospital teaching	per hour	£ 45.41

We operate during term time only, following The City of Edinburgh Council school holiday calendar.

Working with parents

We appreciate that this might be a difficult time for you as a parent, carer or family member. City of Edinburgh Council teaching staff based at Little France will introduce themselves to you once the referral is received, before your child begins learning.

When lessons are one-to-one, you are welcome to stay. Equally, you may appreciate the opportunity to have some time to yourself.

Our teaching staff will liaise with you and your child/young person’s school regularly on the progress of their learning.
After they are discharged, their school will receive a report summarising their learning and teaching.

What we ask of your child

It is important for learners to let us know how they are feeling so that we can adapt our lessons and support them to take part where possible.

Working in partnership with schools

We will liaise with schools to ensure continuity and progression of education.

Regular communication and updates are made directly with the child/young person’s class or subject teachers and/or guidance team as required.

Once we have had some time to get to know them and have the information about their learning we need, we put together a personalised teaching plan to organise our lessons. We aim to keep base schools up to date with progress during their absence from school and liaise with relevant staff to support a return to their regular learning routine.

Supporting primary school learning

Your child may work with just the teacher, or with a small group of children in our classroom or at the bedside. Our colourful classroom has a table, reading corner, some comfy beanbags and lots of books and games.

During their time with us, we hope to:

Help your child carry on with their learning
Cover some of the same work as their classmates
Make sure they feel confident about returning to school
Have fun!

If your child is not feeling well

Every morning, we come round to check in and organise a lesson. We know that circumstances can change over a morning so please don’t worry if they are not feeling well enough for a lesson at the time we agreed. We can reschedule and try another time.

If your child feels unwell during your lesson, we encourage them to let us know – we can cut the lesson short or change our planned activities.

Supporting secondary school learning

Lessons take place either at the bedside or in our classroom. There is a bright, comfortable classroom with windows and lots of natural light. The nurse, doctor or ward team can help decide which place is best – and your child can be involved in that decision too.

We focus on English and Maths because they are core subjects, central to the whole curriculum. We can also support with social subjects such as Geography, History and Modern Studies. If there is another subject your child is particularly interested in, we will do what we can to help.

We will contact school to find out exactly what your child’s teachers are doing. Ideally, lessons will be in line with those their classmates have. That way they won’t miss anything important and will feel more confident when going back to school.

Subject lessons are about the same length as they are at school but can be shorter if they need to be. We understand that there may be times when your child will only feel up to a short lesson. If they are too tired or unwell for their lesson, just let us know. We can always reschedule.

We can provide everything they need for learning. Our classroom is very well-equipped, with big tables, comfortable seats, wi-fi, textbooks, desktop computers, laptops, and a Smartboard. If they are learning on the ward, we will bring whatever they need.

We will also let teachers know how well your child is getting on and send them copies of any important work they have done such as essays and assessments.

If they are likely to be in hospital on the day of an exam, we can arrange for them to sit it here.

Neurodiversity

Neurodiversity is the concept that when it comes to the human brain, people do not end up all the same. We all have different talents, strengths and things that we find difficult. Society around us is neurodiverse – at school, college, in the workplace, our local neighbourhoods, hospitals and health centres.

Neurodiversity is not always visible or labelled. While many neurodivergent people will have a diagnosis such as ADHD, autism, dyslexia or dyspraxia (or a combination of these), many will not. And those with a diagnosis might not choose to share that information.

We all need to be aware of neurodiversity and can use that awareness to help us:

accept the fact that we all have different experiences and needs in the world
create more inclusive communities, schools and workplaces
ask for, and provide, accommodations that enable us all to thrive
fight stigma, discrimination and prejudice
highlight the benefits neurodivergent people bring to their communities.

Neurodiversity is the fact that all our brains process information in different ways. This means there are differences in how we take in information from the world around us and in how we put that information together in our brains. In turn, these ‘information processing’ differences lead to differences in how we act, and how we are.

For example, if a fire alarm goes off in a building, some people’s brains will process the noise and flashing lights and find it easy to decide to leave by the nearest fire exit. Other people will find their brains overwhelmed by the sights and sounds and may become very distressed or freeze.

Neurodiversity includes everyone – the whole human race is neurodiverse.

Visit the Neurodiversity page for information on supports and services available within NHS Lothian and the wider community, along with practical advice and links to help you take your next steps with confidence.

Play

Young child playing on a table

The Play Service exists to help children, young people and their families understand about and cope with treatment, procedures, equipment and their feelings. It is a service available for all families, whether coming for an in-patient stay or a visit to the Emergency Department or a clinic.

Being able to play and join in with activities is an important part of the care that children and young people receive across NHS Lothian, including at the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People in Edinburgh and St. John’s Hospital Livingston.

Play services are led by registered Health Play Specialists who are qualified with a Diploma or Degree in Healthcare Play Specialism. Play assistants and nursery nurses also work within our hospitals and all have a childcare qualification as well as experience in play work and child development.

Why is play in the hospital important?

Play helps children to express their feelings. For children in hospital, play becomes even more important as it can help them understand their illness and treatment, bring a feeling of normality and help them to relax in strange surroundings.

Children can be given the chance to touch and handle medical equipment and can role-play with preparation dolls (or their favourite toy) under the guidance and supervision of play staff.

Play can be an escape from feeling unwell or scared, or a welcome distraction when children are bored or restless. Play also:

Releases surplus energy.
Stimulates muscle growth and motor coordination.
Provides the opportunity to practice actions useful in adult life.
Develops imagination.
Develops language skills.
Provides a rest from reality and relieves boredom.
Allows children to express their feelings.
Builds up confidence and can help to prevent young patients from becoming distressed or withdrawn.

young child playing with white paint, which they have got all over them

Acorn Suite

If a child or young person has disclosed an incidence of abuse, they might be invited to our special child-friendly examination room at the RHCYP, the Acorn Suite, which is situated next to the children’s outpatient department on the ground floor.

The Acorn Suite has two purpose-built child-friendly examination rooms that meet the standards required for forensic examinations. There is a discrete entrance and dedicated parking, which can be booked in advance. The Acorn Suite team can be contacted on 0131 312 0499.

In some situations, we may see older children for examinations at one of the other NHS Lothian forensic suites, either the Sycamore Suite (Astley Ainslie Hospital, Edinburgh) or The West Lothian Civic Centre (Livingston). We will advise professionals, families and their children or young people involved where their medical examination will be taking place at the time of booking.

Medical examinations may need to occur at the hospital bedside in situations where the child or young person is too unwell to be moved, and the examination is urgent. We always consider the child or young person’s best interests when making decisions about the location and timing of a medical examination and respect their right to dignity and privacy during the examination.

All medical examinations need permission from the child or young person (where old enough) or their responsible parent or carer if they are too young or unable to do this themselves. The people who can give this permission on behalf of a child, also known as ‘consent’, are set out by law.

This can be a very anxious and confusing time for families and those that care for children. We have developed a leaflet to help young people and their parents or carers understand consent and what to expect at a child protection examination.

Having an operation

Having an operation can also be called ‘having surgery’ or ‘going to theatre’. Many children have operations every day, with specialist doctors and nurses looking after them before and after. Some also have special tests, scans or procedures that need them to be asleep. This is called ‘having an anaesthetic’.

Operations and procedures usually take place at the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People in Edinburgh, or sometimes at the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh or St. John’s Hospital in Livingston. This includes endoscopy tests, where a tiny camera looks inside the body to see what’s happening inside, or some types of scan such as an MRI or CT scan. The reason for having an operation or procedure in hospital is likely to be different for everyone.

Some children come to hospital for an operation and go home again on the same day – this is called ‘day case surgery’. Sometimes children are already staying in hospital before their operation, or need to stay on a ward afterwards. If you know that you’ll be having an operation, you’ll find helpful information here about what to expect.