For most students, school is a physical place – a building with lockers, bells, and bustling hallways. But for those at Northern Health School (NHS), school is a concept that moves with them. It might be a classroom at Auckland’s Starship Hospital, a local library, a kitchen table at home, or one of the 20 NHS units dotted across the North Island.
NHS provides vital education for students who are too unwell to attend their regular school or kura. If a student meets the admission criteria due to a medical condition, they can enrol at NHS. Whether they are recovering from a serious injury or navigating significant mental health challenges, NHS ensures a young person’s education isn’t another casualty of their illness.
Supporting these ākonga requires more than just dedicated teachers; it requires digital infrastructure as flexible and resilient as the staff themselves. This is where the partnership between NHS and Network for Learning (N4L) becomes essential.
A classroom without borders
The hallmark of NHS is its adaptability. “Where the tuition takes place can look how it needs to look – all based on the needs of the students,” says Tracy Grieve, NHS Business Manager.
Tracy oversees the ‘engine room’ of the school – everything from IT, administration and HR to the fleet of teachers’ cars. NHS classrooms are located in ‘units’, which serve as both teaching spaces and office hubs for staff. Tracy is based at the Newmarket head office in Auckland, the school’s largest unit, but the reach of the school is vast.
“It might be that teachers visit a student in a ward at Middlemore Hospital, or in their school of enrolment,” Tracy says. “We have a classroom at Ronald McDonald House and at Haumaru Ōrite, the acute psychiatric child and adolescent mental health inpatient unit at Starship Hospital. At our Wilson unit on the North Shore, students are residential because of treatment for traumatic head injuries or intensive rehabilitation. They often come into the classroom in wheelchairs and many have accessibility requirements.”
Other students might join NHS for a shorter period, transitioning back to their school or kura as they recover. This transition often involves NHS teachers meeting students at their local school or library to help them regain their confidence. For many, particularly those dealing with mental health issues, a traditional classroom can be an intimidating place.
“Often, it takes time to get them back into the classroom,” says Tracy. “They might just want to sit quietly in the corner. If a student is too unwell to come in, initial lessons might take place online.”
The digital lifeblood of learning
Since the pandemic, NHS’s reliance on digital learning has grown exponentially. Teachers frequently use various learning platforms to keep students engaged, regardless of where they are physically. If a student is unable to attend a classroom, they meet their teacher on Microsoft Teams or Google, using app-sharing to stay on track with their studies.
Like other state and state-integrated schools in Aotearoa, NHS’s teaching units are part of the N4L Managed Network. We provide these sites with a fully funded, high-speed, enterprise-grade internet connection, ensuring that technology supports learning rather than hindering it.
Safety and security that provides peace of mind
For Tracy and her team, the true value of N4L’s network is the peace of mind it provides. When dealing with vulnerable young people already facing personal challenges, the internet must be a safe space, not a source of further risk.
“The comfort in the safety and security N4L provides is a big part of what we do,” Tracy says. “It’s a conversation we have regularly. It’s reassuring to know that if we’re in an NHS unit, the connection is filtered.”
We’re helping keep NHS safer through our Internet Safety & Security Services. As part of this service, Web Filtering allows schools to block categories, websites and apps. In addition, Email Protection provides them with protection against email-based cyber threats.
A partnership built on reliability
Running a school across hospital wards and homes can be a logistical puzzle. Tracy says their unique circumstances can lead to technical hurdles, but as NHS grows – including a move into a new purpose-built school in Taupō – the stability of their network remains constant.
With their Managed Network Upgrade now complete and Wi-Fi upgrades rolling out across more units, the school is well-positioned to meet the evolving needs of its students. At the heart of this collaboration is a simple goal: ensuring every student, no matter their health journey, has the opportunity to learn.