Hospital Schools in Germany Presentation for the LeHo meeting of the Board of Experts, Bucharest, 04/11/2014

Hospital Schools in Germany 1.General situation – Different strokes for different folks or Each to their own… 2.“Ruhrlandschule“, Essen – Just one example 3.Changes and challenges – New perspectives 2

1. General situation - Hospital schools in Germany  16 federal states  each state has its own educational sovereignty and regulations  7 out of 16 states do not mention school for kids with medical conditions  “hospital schools“: different terms, different concepts  16 state ministers of education - one national conference  North Rhine Westphalia  46 hospital schools– mainly linked to child and adolescent psychiatry units  2012/13: more than pupils 3

National Conference resolution for hospital schools (1998) Teach children who have to stay in hospital for a while or cannot attend their home school regularly because of chronical or long-term illness – on the basis of respective state regulations and state curricula taking into account special, individual situation / medical condition – group size: small groups or individual tuition – staff: teachers from all types of schools – exams: can all be taken at hospital schools 4

2. Ruhrlandschule Essen (Ruhr valley) – “School for students with Medical Conditions“ Legal premise: educational laws for Northrhine Westphalia  students spend presumably at least four weeks in hospital within one academic year  all types of schools and grades  average: 150 pupils/ day = 1.000/ year  20 % with physical/ chronic illnesses  80 % with mental illnesses  six school departments (main building, child and adolescent psychiatry clinic, two day units, paediatric clinic, StepOut = home for about ten youth with drug abuse back- ground)  about 30 teachers (half for special needs education) working in ten teams 5

Tasks and aims: educational diagnostics teaching, special educational support counselling and cooperation re-integration/ bridging gaps/ accompanying transitions Our students: increasing number of students with severe illnesses / disorders majority: secondary school and A-level students, increasing number of primary school students majority with special needs demands  growing number with severe demands in the field of emotional and social disorders about 40 % change (home) school at the end of their in- and out- patient therapy 6

Professional training New technologies:  Online learning programmes for different subjects  Use of ICT for teaching Communication – How to cope with difficult situations and conflicts, Improving communication skills De-escalation training Deepen knowledge about mental disorders (anxieties, autistic disorders, computer and online addiction, …) 7

8 3. Changes and challenges – New perspectives Changes for hospital schools due to  changes in health system (much shorter hospital stays, more out-patient treatment, but increasing case numbers)  increasing number of severe in-patient cases with high special need demands Effects on hospital schools  much more time needed for counselling and advising  increasing number of out-patient students without home schooling due to long waiting periods for in-patient treatment  need for ressources for covering re-integration demands

9 Perspectives  Teachers‘ organisation for Special Needs Education has just published a book with clear political demands: - educational laws must be adjusted to new demands - due to new tasks new name instead of “hospital school“ (e.g. “Centre for Pedagogics in case of illness“) - more time ressources for planning and organising school transitions and re-integration - low-access out-patient information centres for parents and students, e.g. in case of education drop-out  Expert talk in NRW parliament: Organisation of NRW Head Teachers of Hospital Schools and representatives of child and adolescent psychiatric units discuss new challenges with educational experts of different political parties