Ellern Mede Hospital School:

Education with Care at the Centre

A Child-Centred, Therapeutic Approach

Orange Tree School has two Ofsted-registered school sites in London.

• Orange Tree, Whetstone; serves students with EHCPs for Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) needs and Special Educational Needs (SEN) who require specialist education provision but do not need hospital admission.
• Ellern Mede School Ridgeway; supports children and young people admitted to our London inpatient services.

Ellern Mede School now formally registered as Orange Tree school has been judged Outstanding in the last four Ofsted inspections, including the most recent inspection in February 2024. This reflects our commitment to educational excellence, emotional safety, and holistic care.

Education That Supports Recovery

Our hospital school minimises the disruption caused by hospital admission by enabling young people to remain engaged in meaningful, personalised learning. We recognise that education is not just an academic journey but also part of recovery, identity, and resilience.

• Students are taught only when they feel safe, ready, and well enough to engage.
• Individual education plans reflect each young person’s clinical needs, learning history, and aspirations.
• When hospitalisation falls during GCSE or A-Level examinations, young people can sit papers at the hospital school site without interruption to treatment as Orange Tree School is a registered exam centre.

Continuity, Inclusion and Reintegration

We work closely with home schools, parents, carers, and multi-disciplinary clinical teams to ensure continuity of provision during admission and a sustained, supported transition back into education.

Where appropriate, our SEND team supports applications for Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs), ensuring that children’s rights, learning needs and emotional wellbeing remain central to long-term planning.

Curriculum Designed Around Each Child

We offer a broad, flexible curriculum comparable to mainstream settings, with adaptations to support emotional safety, confidence and readiness:

• Core and examined subjects at GCSE and A-Level including: English, Mathematics, Sciences, Languages, Humanities, Arts, Social Sciences and Music (vocational).
• Personal, Social & Health Education (PSHE) and Careers Education personalised to needs, readiness and recovery journey.
• Accredited pathways such as AQA Unit Awards to support confidence, independence and incremental achievement.

Safe, Supported Learning Environments

Our schools provide calm, inclusive spaces where children and young people feel:

• listened to
• respected in their autonomy
• supported to rebuild confidence
• able to learn without pressure or comparison

Each student has a key teacher who ensures their voice is actively represented in planning and review. Our teachers, pastoral staff and learning support assistants work collaboratively with health professionals as part of a fully integrated approach.

Our Values in Practice

• Emotional wellbeing before academic expectation
• Relationships built on trust, compassion and dignity
• Learning that nurtures belonging, self-worth and future pathways
• Listening to children as experts in their own experience
• Multi-disciplinary collaboration to secure safe, ambitious outcomes