Special Education School

A school of the Ministry of Education for children aged 3-21 years operates on the premises of ALYN hospital

This school serves the community on two levels: 

The Shachar School operates under the Free Education Law.

An educational center in the active rehabilitation service, operated under the Free Education Law for Sick Children

The population of students attending the school is culturally and religiously diverse. The school is multicultural and provides an educational and therapeutic solution for hospitalized students from all sectors. The school operates with sensitivity and awareness of the variety of cultures that characterize the population of Israel. The multicultural daily work of the educational staff and students allows for a unique, challenging and instructive shared experience. Throughout the year holidays are celebrated and school ceremonies are held out of consideration and sensitivity to the multicultural diversity in the school. 

The educational-therapeutic work is always focused on the student and his or her family. To do this, we maintain a constant dialogue between the parents and the educational and therapeutic staff regarding the goals of the treatment, progress and adjustment of the personal plan for the student and the family. The school holds joint activities for parents and children, parent groups, parent guidance and joint treatments with the parent and student.

The school and kindergarten staff includes educators, professional teachers, emotional therapists and educational assistants who specialize in the field of special education. The educational staff works in full cooperation with therapists from various health professions: physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, social work, medicine and nursing.

 kindergarten/school for children with complex medical needs

The school aims to promote students' self-management abilities and preparation for adult life starting from kindergarten, with the aim of finding solutions for optimal functioning while addressing the student's medical condition and cognitive and emotional abilities. The pedagogical program is based on developing the students' world of knowledge while expanding their familiarity with the environment and society in which they live, with the aim of providing them tools, strategies and social skills designed to help students cope and adapt to their environment and societies in which they live. Another major goal of the school focuses on integrating the student and returning them to the community while ensuring an adapted integration that meets medical, emotional and academic needs. The goal is based on the assumption that the hospital environment is unnatural for the school child. Out of concern for the student's quality of life, we do our best to return them to their environment and integrate them optimally into the community.

The Shachar school operates most days of the year and has a short vacation schedule tailored to the special education system

Each class/kindergarten has a head teacher and educational assistants. Classes are divided according to cognitive ability and according to the level of functioning and age of the students. The school day begins at 7:30 AM and ends at 3:00 PM. Daily learning is planned according to a fixed schedule with classes in diverse fields of knowledge: literacy, Hebrew, math, Arabic, science, social/sex education, arts, music and more. All content is tailored to each student and is based on an annual personal curriculum based on the standards of the Ministry of Education. The annual personal curriculum is formulated by the educational staff in collaboration with the parents, the emotional therapists and the healthcare staff. As part of parent meetings held twice a year, the teams, together with the parents, discuss and jointly determine the learning, emotional, and functional goals adapted to the student’s needs and abilities throughout the year. The learning is individual and in groups. During the school day the students receive individual and group emotional therapy as part of art, music, drama and animal therapy, in addition to occupational and speech therapy.

Hospital Learning Center - School for Children in Active Rehabilitation:

The learning center provides study hours for children who are inpatients in the rehabilitation department and for children who are treated as outpatients, in order to maintain an educational and learning continuum during the hospitalization period. The learning center is designed to be a familiar place for the child creating an environment of school routine. The center allows the child to feel “at home”, to experience routine familiar to them from school, with an emphasis on unique learning experiences that the center allows: individual learning in an enjoyable atmosphere and comfortable environment. Each child has an individualized educational program that is formulated and based on cooperation between the educational staff of the school at ALYN and the educational staff of the school in the community from which the student came. The Learning Center has a professional and skilled educational staff that teaches individually from kindergarten to high school the core educational topics: Hebrew, Arabic, math, English, as well as other fields of knowledge such as robotics, computers, religious studies, preparation for matriculation exams and more. In addition, the staff holistically addresses the emotional and social aspects of the student, and assists in coping with the hospitalization experience in order to support the child and allow them optimal return to the community at the end of the hospitalization period.

Zones in the Learning Center:

Technological zone

a zone that with work areas that include: science experiments, robotics, computers and 3D printers. The children are welcome to visit it in their free time and can work independently on topics that interest them. They are assisted by teachers and volunteers.

Activity zone 

intended for leisure time. The activities include free arts and crafts, board games and other open activities. The children are welcome to visit the zone. It also offers various weekly activities. The zone is operated by assistants and volunteers under the professional guidance of the educational staff.