School of the Week: Northern Health School

Most students have been tempted to throw a sickie once in their life but 15-year-old Libby Brooker is excited about school and looks forward to her days at the Northern Health School.
She is sitting at her desk and is working on a science worksheet, with an open textbook beside her. She is smiling because school is a place where she can escape her reality and enjoy the company of other students.
For Libby, school is a place to be celebrated.
At this school, no one is going to turn heads if they see someone in a wheelchair. Nor would they smirk at someone who has no hair, and they wouldn't look twice at someone who has a tube going into their nose.
Northern Health School, with a school zone extending over the upper North Island, is one of three state special schools set up by the Education Ministry to provide educational support for students who have high health needs and are unable to attend regular school.
Libby is one of about 100 Bay of Plenty students who are suffering serious illness and are enrolled in the Northern Health School. Twice a week, she and about a dozen other students attend classes at the Tauranga Support Centre and under the guidance of dedicated staff, they learn their lessons.
Continuing their education is paramount and no student is left behind, regardless of their illness. The students who remain in Tauranga Hospital or are too unwell to attend the Support Centre are visited in their homes by Northern Health School teachers.
Libby suffers a recurring illness that means she is constantly fatigued. Another student who attends the Tauranga Support Centre suffered a stroke when he was 13 years old, while another suffers Autism Spectrum Disorder.
For these students, the Northern Health School is a place where their illness is forgotten and they can come together in a social situation and continue their learning. The Tauranga unit has been operating since 2000, however, the school opened its Support Centre in Fraser St earlier this year, after it outgrew its previous home at Gate Pa School. It employs five teachers who work in the Support Centre and travel across the Bay of Plenty to students' homes.
Principal Richard Winder oversees the 14 Northern Health School centres, located all across New Zealand. The school operates like any other, however, because students are different ages, their learning is personalised.
Students at the Northern Health School suffer a range of illnesses, however, the largest growth in student numbers was in the adolescent mental health area, Mr Winder said.
Another large portion of students fell under the oncology bracket, while other student illnesses included transplants, kidney failure, heart disease, eating disorders and those suffering low immunity.
Mr Winder said some students were extremely unwell and passed on while in the course of their studies, and that was always "extremely difficult" for the staff and students.
"But here you won't hear the students speak one word of an illness, they don't talk about it because it's not important," he said. "Our focus is on education and this is a place where students could forget their illnesses and enjoy being children."
He said doctors appointments and medical treatments sometimes caused the students to learn at a slower pace than others, however, NCEA worked well as students could complete a unit standard when they were ready.
Ethan Smith, 15, is a relatively new student at Northern Health School and has only been attending for a few weeks. He relishes in the environment and says he enjoyed the smaller class numbers. Another student, Joel Littleton, said he loved the "flexibility".
"They let you do your own thing and you can do it in your own time. You're not forced to do anything and because of that I have a lot more motivation for learning."
The school aims to have contact with students twice a week, whether in the Support Centre, by home visit or via video-conferencing. The availability of technology has had a significant impact on the school, as it allowed students in remote areas access to teachers "by the click of a button", Mr Winder said. "This means the ones who are on the tip of the East Cape, which are a bit far away, can still have access to teachers and quality education."
The Northern Health School has numerous units in Auckland, as well as Northland, Waikato, Taranaki, Whakatane, Gisborne, Rotorua and Tauranga.
It's 11.30am on the clock and assistant principal and head of the Tauranga Support Centre Robyn Meikle announces it's break time.
Libby, Liam, Ethan and another student play checkers on the mat.
They're laughing.
Behind their smiles Mr Winder knows the students are battling their own health issues but seeing them smile is what makes his job worth it.
SCHOOL OF THE WEEK
Name: Northern Health School Tauranga Unit.
Where: 160 Fraser St.
Pupils: About 100.
Staff: 6.
Decile: 1.
Principal: Richard Winder.
Website: www.nhs.school.nz