If a child or young person is unable to attend school for a while because of a medical or mental health problem, we will, in consultation with parents and other professionals, seek an alternative way of maintaining their education. We may offer individual or small group tuition for pupils who are too ill to access full time mainstream education or are making the transition from hospital back to school. This alternative provision would normally take place at the Chapel House Site. Only in exceptional circumstances, dictated by the child’s medical condition, will tuition take place in the home.

The aim of alternative educational provision is to reintegrate these pupils into full time mainstream or special education at the earliest opportunity. In the interim, there is a need to ensure access to quality education, for opportunities for working in partnership with other agencies e.g. CAMHS, Inclusion and Attendance, EPS and systems for maintaining links with the Sheffield Futures Service.

Pupils referred to the Becton Hospital and Outreach Team must be ‘medically unfit’ to attend mainstream school, either as a result of issues relating to illness, or as a result of issues relating to mental health.

If the child is medically unfit, the LA has a statutory responsibility to provide education during the period of treatment. The LA, along with Becton School, may determine that this education can be provided by our Chapel House provision.

If this is the case, the Local Authority requires a letter and referral from a Medical Practitioner which:

• States that the child is medically unfit to attend school
• Gives an indication of how long the child will be medically unfit to attend school
• Outlines the treatment plan
• Gives details of the current support provided by the LA's Inclusion and Attendance Team
• Gives details of the MyPlan which is in place for the child.

The medical practitioner letter and referral is the first step in the LA identifying that the statutory requirement to provide education should be planned and implemented.

In order for the decision to be made that Becton Hospital and Outreach Team is statutorily necessary, the Head of Becton School and the referrals team will consider the request from the medical practitioner. The referrals team includes representatives from Becton School, CAMHS, Educational Psychology, Inclusion and Attendance and SEND.

Medical Practitioner letters and referrals indicating a child is medically unfit to attend school should be sent to:

James Gibson
Executive Headteacher
Becton School
Sheffield
S20 1NZ

becton.referrals@nexusmat.org 

If you are sending a referral via Egress, please send to jgibson@nexusmat.org

For information regarding the curriculum at Chapel House please click here

It’s weird sending an email to portray how grateful I am. When I was at my lowest point, when X was at his lowest point a woman called Lucy stepped through my door and after years of trauma and fight I finally had someone that understood. You had my back as well as his. Instead of fighting to get a system to fit X you designed a system to fit X. All the pressure was taken off my shoulders and I could parent X in a more trauma informed way, I could say what I felt without judgement and that meant I got the help X needed, X was treated in the way he needed to be treated, and thus have an education that he was always entitled to but was stripped off. You didn’t give him wings, he already has them but you gave him the confidence to fly. His wings were a bit wonky, and we didn’t fix them, we adapted his course because our kids don’t need fixing, they aren’t broken, they just need a course adjustment to soar higher. I genuinely believe you all helped save his life. I write this with tears in my eyes as my baby flies the nest into the next stages of his life. You helped him gain independence when even I struggled to see our future, you are just incredible people and you deliver an incredible pathway for children misunderstood and very often missed in mainstream education. I don’t want him to leave. But, were before we were frightened we are now strong and ready all because of everybody at your wonderful school. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for giving my child a chance when nobody seemed to care. We were lost and we now feel found All my love. We will miss you terribly!

*** was off school from January with depression.  We had an incredibly challenging time getting her diagnosed, the support we needed and on the right medication. The Learning Mentor's role was clearly to help her make the transition back into school which she started on a very part time basis in the autumn.

*** has developed a phobia of crowds and this made it more difficult starting back. The Learning Mentor  has a fantastic personality and bonded with *** straightaway. She manages to strike just the right balance between between friendly, supportive but also firm and encouraging.  With the Learning Mentor's help, *** gradually increased her time at school and returned full time in July. Since then she has been absolutely fine and is thriving at school - despite having missed 15 months she's doing really well and is in the top set for Maths and Science.

My husband and I are very clear that without your help we wouldn't be where we are now. The Learning Mentor was there to support her during break times and helped her overcome her phobia of crowds.  She had a major part to play in *** regaining her confidence and her health.

Please find below a number of useful documents for schools

• Schools Guide
• Charging Process Flow Chart
• Charges to Schools FAQS

Please note, Becton School are not responsible for the charging of the provision. Any enquiries regarding charges (that cannot be answered in the documents above), should be addressed with Sheffield Local Authority directly.