Michelle – Hospital School Principal

Michelle’s passion for the continued education of children while they are at the Red Cross Children’s Hospital is inspiring. Even after 20 years of educating children who are patients, she shows no sign of losing her spark, even on tough days.

“Seeing how the children benefit from our education is the most satisfying thing. Even if they leave here with two or three new concepts that they’ve obtained from the time they were with us, those are two or three new concepts they never had. And to see a child, who is normally scared to go to school because they feel they haven’t mastered a certain concept, suddenly feel that they are worth something and that they can actually do it, is the most joyous thing to me. That someone here has inspired them with confidence.”

It’s unusual for a hospital to have its very own school, which is just another incredibly unique service the Red Cross Children’s Hospital offers its inpatients. Michelle has been at the helm for 20 of the school’s 60-year history.

Each morning, Michelle and her colleague divide the wards between them and then meet with each child who was admitted the day before. They then begin the mammoth task of assessing each child’s needs. “We chat with the parents and children to find out what grades and schools they are in and find out if they have any schoolwork with them. If not, we contact the schools ourselves and we continue with their schoolwork.”

Michelle’s day then continues with their current little learners, who are rather “impatient patients” when it comes to their turn of the school day. Most of them can’t wait to partake in lessons and be part of this nurturing and gentle school environment.

“The joys of teaching at a hospital school vary so much compared to a mainstream school. The children here find it an unstressed environment. We as educators explain to the children over and over again until they understand the concept. They don’t feel pressured, they don’t feel scared to ask us the same question repeatedly, and we are more than willing to explain it to them repeatedly.”

Michelle is an integral thread of the Hospital’s tapestry, and she encompasses the very essence of one of its core values, which is “to provide the young patients with the best possible educational opportunities to empower them with the skills and knowledge to be able to be reintegrated back into their schools”. Education equates to empowerment and Women’s Month embraces empowerment, which starts with our children.