Hospital offers virtual education program for kids with illness
30% of children in Australia risk missing months of school due to being hospitalised for a chronic illness. But a virtual online program in a Queensland hospital is leading the way bringing the classroom and teacher right into the hospital wards.
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00:00 This is what a typical school day looks like for 8-year-old Ayla.
00:09 She's spent the last seven months receiving treatment for leukaemia at the Queensland
00:14 Children's Hospital.
00:16 When we were first admitted here the hospital school teachers approached us on the ward
00:21 and let us know that there was this program for Ayla.
00:24 What language features do you think you can find in this chapter?
00:29 Ayla is part of the first virtual online classroom that's been launched by the hospital to connect
00:34 students with teachers like Mrs T.
00:37 I found the students find it very beneficial to maintain that education routine because
00:43 they know what that is and they know what to expect and it makes them feel like that's
00:47 their consistency.
00:48 The curriculum is tailored to each individual student to ensure they don't fall behind.
00:54 It's good to have classmates and other people that you can do school with and be normal
01:01 with back to school.
01:03 The virtual hospital is connecting teachers like Mrs T with students from any hospital
01:08 across the state without a teacher present.
01:11 Currently the school boasts 100 students but is looking to increase those numbers by next
01:17 year.
01:18 It's also looking to close the gap for any patients that may fall through the education
01:22 cracks.
01:23 Experts say up to 30% of children in Australia risk missing school for months due to chronic
01:29 illness.
01:31 This is precisely what continuing education means.
01:35 It means that there's no stopping gaps and starting again.
01:39 It means that it just continues in whatever location these kids are.
01:43 It's just not all about academics, it's connecting with another human being.
01:47 A program ensuring no student gets left behind.
01:50 We made it?
01:51 Yeah you can open it.
01:52 Of course.
01:53 [BLANK_AUDIO]