Teachers at Mitchell House Special School in East Belfast are using the school’s video conferencing facilities to help pupils in hospital keep in touch with their classmates.
One of the first pupils to benefit from the school’s innovative use of the web cam equipment and training provided by C2K was James Brooks from Bangor. Fourteen years old James has cerebral palsy and had to spend a lengthy spell in Musgrave Park Hospital. Thanks to the excellent working relationship between his teachers at Mitchell House and teaching staff at Belfast Hospital School, he was able to keep up to date with all his lessons but after a recent long spell in hospital, James became increasingly apprehensive about going back to school after being away for so long.
Miriam Donnan, ICT Teacher at Mitchell House explained: “James had been in hospital and out of his usual school routine for several months. We knew from speaking to teachers at Belfast Hospital School that he was very anxious about his return to Mitchell House and seeing all his classmates again. We decided to break the ice for him by organising the videoconference link between James and his friends and teachers here at Mitchell House. The video link was the week before he was due back at school but while he was still in Musgrave Park Hospital.
“James was able to talk to his friends and ask them about what they had been doing since he went into hospital. The video link reassured James and certainly made it easier for him to come back to school the following Monday. Instead of worrying about coming back, James told his friends he was looking forward to seeing them again.”
Now that he is back at Mitchell House, James is a bit of a celebrity with the ‘star’ status that comes from appearing on the big screen (aka the interactive white board) and he said he really enjoyed the experience.
According to Miriam, the video-links are helping the children’s confidence.“Some of our children here are very shy but once they get used to using the webcam, they really enjoy it and we find that it helps to develop their social skills.
“As we cater for children with a wide range of physical disabilities, we use a variety of specially adapted ICT equipment, such as computers with an easy to use rollerball instead of the traditional mouse, large coloured keyboards and speech recognition software.”
She added: “We make good use of ICT in class to unlock the children’s potential. Our special equipment gives them greater access and makes it easier for them to use the computers. We’re always looking for new ways to integrate ICT into their work – for example some of the children have started to use digital cameras to help prepare their records of achievement.”
Following the success of their pilot videoconference with James, Miriam liased with Belfast Hospital School ICT Co-ordinator Mary Graham to investigate other possible uses of the web cam. They agreed it would be an ideal way to introduce new pupils to the school.
Mary said: “One of our pupils had been with us in the Hospital School for almost a year following a serious road traffic accident. He was going to transfer from a mainstream school to Mitchell House but because it was in the middle of the school year, he was very apprehensive about how he was going to fit in with everyone. He didn’t know what to expect so we used the video link to introduce him to his new classmates. He was able to ask them questions and talk to them about what they did in school - and all the usual really important things like football! He was also able to have a ‘look’ around the classroom and meet some of his teachers which was all very reassuring for him.”
Belfast Hospital School operates on a split site between the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children, the City Hospital and Musgrave Park Hospital. Mary said videoconference links have tremendous potential to help children in hospital keep in touch with their school friends.“We try to minimise disruption to their education while they are in hospital and we also play a role in their reintegration into mainstream school after longterm illness. The video links have been very beneficial – it’s a real tonic for the children and just the thing they need when they’re in hospital.”
