Headteacher's Welcome

My name is Nell Giles, Headteacher of Southampton Hospital School, a unique
educational setting based in Southampton General Hospital which serves the needs of children with medical conditions across the South of England.

Any stay in hospital, or spell of serious illness, can result in periods of absence from school, creating extra worries for young people and their families around the potentially negative impact this can have on their educational progress and opportunities. This is where SHS can help. We provide a high-quality educational experience for every young person referred to us, one which is carefully tailored to meet the individual needs of each child and ensures they are not disadvantaged by their medical status.

I feel extremely privileged and proud to be leading a team of highly skilled and motivated teachers who offer every child the opportunity to excel in their studies within a compassionate and aspirational environment.

Nell Giles
Headteacher of Southampton Hospital School

About Us and Our Core Values

Southampton Hospital School is an alternative provision academy providing hospital education to pupils in Southampton General Hospital and Outreach teaching to pupils within the city of Southampton. We are the experts at educating children with medical needs and enabling pupils to reintegrate back into their usual school.

Here at Southampton Hospital School, we feel incredibly proud and privileged to be working within a unique setting, one that is tailored to meet the educational, health and emotional needs of young people. We offer all learners a high quality, engaging educational experience which skillfully and sequentially enriches and builds upon their existing skills and knowledge.

Our ethos is encapsulated in our three core values:

Aspiration

We believe that any period of ill health should not create barriers to educational progress and achievement. Our bespoke approach to curriculum design and delivery ensures that all children make substantial and meaningful gains in their knowledge and skills whilst they are attending our school. At the heart of our curriculum lies high academic standards, a desire to create intellectual curiosity and a commitment to setting young people on the path to a full and productive life.

Resilience

We are strongly committed to developing resilience in our young people and recognise that this may be an attribute they have temporarily lost due to personal challenges and difficulties connected to their health. We aim to rebuild their self-belief and re-engage them with the education system. We recognise that their time with us may just be the start of a long journey to recovery and therefore see it as our duty to teach and develop the characteristics, behaviours and beliefs necessary for the successful continuation of this journey.

Compassion

Our highly experienced teachers and support staff know that any stay in hospital, or prolonged spell of absence from school, is highly unsettling and disruptive for young people and their families. All our interactions with young people are therefore compassionate, empathetic and essentially caring in nature. We work in close partnership with hospital health professionals, partner schools, community mental health services and inclusion services to ensure that the emotional needs of all our young people are fully understood and met.

Any stay in hospital can be disorientating and difficult, but it does not have to have a negative impact on your education. In fact, many pupils find the small class sizes and opportunities for 1:1 teaching at Southampton Hospital School helps them to make rapid progress in areas that they have previously found difficult.

Whether your stay in hospital is planned or unexpected, you will find friendly teachers and relaxed classrooms ready to help you.

Find out more about what we do here