Education

During Treatment

It probably isn't top of your list of 'things to do whilst being treated for cancer', but keeping up with your studies is often possible. Obviously, there might be times when you're too poorly, but after your first round of treatment you may want to try and get back into familiar things – like your studies.

Your youth worker, or social worker (and your parents) should be able to offer you help. For example they can talk to school or college and make sure everyone knows what is happening.

There are also some other things worth knowing when it comes to keeping up with your studies.

Hospital teachers

Some hospitals employ a hospital teacher who can arrange for important work to be sent to the hospital. They can also help you with that work whilst you are in hospital.

If you are at an important stage in your education, you may want to try and do a small amount of work every day (if you can). Doing this can help you from falling too far behind overall.

At home

If you are under 16 and at school full time, it might be possible for a home tutor to vist you and teach you at home. There are rules around this – for example getting a tutor depends upon how well you are and where you live in the country. However it's still worth asking about.

The home tutor will be able to concentrate on your main subjects, and will need a quiet space to work in.

What about returning to school?

Returning to school or college can be both exciting and let's face it – a bit scary. After all, you may now be much better, but loads of things will have happened since you were poorly. What if everyone's forgotten about you? What if they tease you because you look a bit different?

There are things that can going back a bit easier.

• Visit school/college as often as you can – even if it’s only for a few lessons or even for lunch. This will make coming back a lot easier.
• Remember that you don't have to talk about your illness if you don't want to.
• Ask a friend to walk with you and stay with you on your first day back.
• Go back in stages – a few hours a day at first will stop it being such a big shock!
• Remind your parents to tell school if you will be wearing a hat or bandana, or if you can't do P.E. classes. It might also be good if they arrange for a teacher to be your buddy, so you can go to them if there are any problems.

We have a number of leaflets for teachers about how to welcome children with cancer back to school. Perhaps you or your parents or social worker can tell your school about them.  They can be found in the Publications and Resources section of the CLIC Sargent website.

Returning to college

It's best to talk to your youth worker about this, as they will have some good ideas about how to go about it. However, having a friend to support you, and visiting as often as you can are both good ways to make that return easier.

In Year 10, 11, 12 or 13?

If you are on treatment you may be entitled to ‘special considerations’ during GCSE or ‘A’ level exams. These include:

• 25% extra time in exams
• Use of a laptop if necessary
• Specialist equipment if necessary
• Use of a reader or scribe
• Use of a separate room for the exam
• Rest breaks

Your Consultant will need to write a letter to the exam board explaining your illness and how your education has been affected. It may also be possible to get an exam grade based on mock exams or coursework. In this case it's important to try and complete as much work as you can when you're away from school. Exam boards have strict rules about this and ask that students complete a minimum of 35% of the GCSE exam and 50% of the exam at ‘A’ level. This is not negotiable but can include any element of coursework completed.