Tom Kelly, Lead Practitioner - Global, speaks about the Manchester Hospital School's commitment to developing global citizenship
Manchester Hospital School provides education for children and young people who cannot attend their usual school because of their medical or mental health needs.
Our young people are growing up in a globalised society in which a range of languages and cultures are just a click or a tap away. They will have more international experiences available to them in terms of travel, cuisine, employment and culture than any previous generation. However, they are also growing up in times of uncertainty and increasingly polarised viewpoints within society, so it is important that we provide them with a curriculum that educates them about and celebrates the vast number of cultures that exist both within the UK and internationally.
This is particularly important in our context, in which pupils with medical or social, emotional and mental health issues may feel even more detached from society than their peers accessing mainstream education. We aim to offer all pupils a range of experiences to enhance their learning and raise awareness of their local, national and international identity through a variety of activities that enrich pupils’ cultural capital and global understanding, as we believe this will have a powerful impact on their future working and personal lives.
We aim to offer all pupils a range of experiences to enhance their learning and raise awareness of their local, national and international identity
Over the past two years, we have expanded our curricular and extracurricular offer in recognition of this, incorporating globally-themed topics in a variety of subjects taught from ages 4-18, and holding whole-school events to mark internationally significant events, such as European Day of Languages, Holocaust Memorial Day and World Refugee Day, as well as major religious festivals. We have also achieved accreditation for the British Council International School Award (Intermediate), the UNICEF Rights Respecting Schools Award (Silver) and as a European Parliament Ambassador School.
We are proud to have been awarded the Bronze Global School Award in recognition of our work to date, and we believe that we are an outstanding example of how medical and mental health issues should not be a barrier to learning about the world. We look forward to continuing to develop internationalism in our school and collaborating with the Global School Alliance community and would be particularly interested in hearing from other special schools across the world.
You can find out more about our school at www.manchesterhospitalschool.co.uk.
