The Northern Health School

The History of a Unique New Zealand School

There has been hospital education in New Zealand since at least 1910, with teachers working in hospitals with students, however in 2000 things changed dramatically as part of the Ministry’s Special Education 2000 policy.

Greenlane Hospital was run by a teacher attached to Cornwall Park School and this was the model for most of the country.  Standards varied hugely and there were reports of a teacher clad in a white coat, carrying a clipboard through the wards of a provincial hospital, even though there had been no children’s ward for some years.

In Auckland there were two Hospital Schools, one at Auckland Hospital and the other at Middlemore.  They operated under the governance of two Trustee Boards which for practical reasons combined for monthly meetings, hearing separate reports. Chairmanship alternated month by month.  

Under the Ministry’s changes, these two Hospital schools continued and ultimately combined to form the Northern Hospital School (later renamed the Northern Health School).   An important early step was the appointment of a Principal for the new school. The Board conducted in depth interviews with the Principals of both Middlemore and Auckland and Auckland Principal Margaret Zubsic was the successful candidate.

The name of the school was originally decreed by the Ministry to be the Northern Regional Hospital Health School but the simpler Northern Hospital School title was agreed with the founding Board, to take into account the hospital origins of the school.  The other two schools opted to be Regional Health Schools.

There were two main changes in the way the teaching staff worked.  In hospitals, only those students expected to be off school and in hospital for 10 days or more were eligible, which meant that the proportion of patents seen by teachers dropped significantly.  In reaction to this many provincial hospitals withdrew the classroom space previously used by the teachers and now most Health school teachers are accommodated off site.  In one such hospital a table tennis table held pride of place for several years in the room where the teachers used to be.

 The second change saw Health School teachers working with students in the community.  A growing fleet of school cars continue to deliver teachers and programmes to students in their own homes.  The service thus created is unique in the world in providing continuous education support from hospitalisation, through recovery and the transition back to their regular school.  A growing proportion of students have no hospital treatment at all.

Since the school's opening, the roll has continued to increase as schools and other agencies become more aware of the service that is offered.  Lack of awareness by regular schools continues to be the greatest single hurdle that the school faces.