Royal Free Hospital School to open new base in Highgate to support more Camden children
A proposal to move part of the Royal Free Hospital Children’s School into the historic Konstam Centre has been approved, increasing provision for young people unable to attend mainstream school.
The Royal Free Hospital Children’s School (RFHCS) is a community special school for pupils aged five to sixteen, providing education to patients on the paediatric wards at the Royal Free Hospital.
The school also currently runs programmes from two external sites - the Camden Learning Centre (CLC) in Charrington Street, Somers Town, and The Hive, in Harben Parade, Finchley Road, for children experiencing medical or mental health challenges which means that they are not able to attend a mainstream school.
To increase the number of children and young people it can support, and continue to meet local need, the school’s outreach provisions will relocate to the Konstam Centre building in Highgate from September 2023.
Education will continue to be provided by the school within the Royal Free Hospital, with all other programmes moving to the newly refurbished space at the Konstam Centre, which will cater for up to 50 children and young people.
This is fantastic news. RFHCS will continue the educational use of the Konstam Centre and provide an educational provision within the community supporting young people experiencing medical or mental health challenges and unable to attend mainstream school.
The move will also provide the school with greater stability, as our alternative programmes and outreach services will operate under one roof for the first time. This, in addition to the improved space offered at Konstam, will enable the school to focus on meeting need as well as increase the number of young people we can support.
This is great news. Moving this provision to the Konstam Centre will not only make a huge difference to local children but also provide long-term stability for the school. The RFHCS is an outstanding school offering vital provision for vulnerable children who are not able to attend a mainstream school, so it’s fantastic that they will be able to operate on one site and increase their services for the benefit of even more children in the borough.
Brookfield Primary School opened its nursery for 2-year-old children in September 2021 using the ground floor and generous outdoor areas of the Konstam Centre.
This is important provision for the local community, particularly for those families eligible for 15 hours a week of free early education, and will continue to operate when the RFHCS moves into the building in September.
We are really excited by this new partnership with the Royal Free Hospital Children's School. Sharing the site will enable us to continue our successful nursery for 2-year-olds, where the children make excellent transitions to our primary school. As an inclusive school, we are inspired to be working alongside the RFHCS and to collaborate on future projects together.
Brookfield Primary School also has a 39-place nursery for 3 and 4-year-olds at their main school site. For more information head to brookfield.camden.sch.uk/.
RFHCS will be leaving both The Hive and Camden Learning Centre at the end of July 2023. Any children continuing programmes with RFHCS in 2023/24 will be educated at the new site which will be known as ‘RFHCS Konstam’.
The Konstam Centre was built in 1924 by the Konstam family as a health clinic for children and continues to be used for educational purposes.
To find out more, please contact the Royal Free Hospital Children’s School at [email protected] or head to royalfree.camden.sch.uk/.