REACH
Research type
Research Study
Full title
REturning to School whAt helps and hinders CHildren with Cancer (The REACH Study)
IRAS ID
367070
Contact name
Faith Gibson
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Great Ormond Street Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 3 months, 1 days
Research summary
Children with cancer experience disruption to their education during and beyond treatment, with long absences due to periods in hospital, or attending clinics. Cancer and its treatment side effects can also make learning more difficult when children are able to go back to school. Going to school helps children to feel normal, more like their friends, but it can also create further worries; about fitting back in, looking different and not being able to catch-up on lost schooling. During the COVID-19 pandemic school closures meant most children and their teachers used digital systems to continue learning. We want to see if any of these approaches could help children with cancer access schooling during and after treatment. Our focus is on primary school children- the largest group of children with a cancer diagnosis and for whom the likelihood of survival is greatest. There is no current UK guidance based on research for practitioners in health or education.
We want to examine what getting back to school looks like for children with cancer aged 4-11. To understand the experiences of those receiving their care at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust and University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trusts unified children’s cancer centre, including finding out about use of digital and remote learning methods. This will help us to see what helps and hinders from the perspective of key people, parents/guardians, children, healthcare professionals, and educational professionals. That will help us to develop guidance and a future survey to examine approaches to going back to school undertaken at all other Principal Treatment Centres in the UK and Ireland.
We will ask families who are at different stages of cancer care to participate, utilising creative in methods to engage with children. We will talk to professionals in hospital and schools.REC name
Wales REC 4
REC reference
26/WA/0143
Date of REC Opinion
19 May 2026
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion