Phase 2 & 3 – Bournville All-Through School

Date: 10th April 2025

On the 1^st May, Children from Bournville All-Through School, joined members of The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital (ROH) for the 3^rd and final session of the Health Hacks Programme. Health Hacks is funded and ran by members of Royal Orthopaedic Charity (ROC) in order to educate children on healthy lifestyle and inspire the healthcare heroes of our future.

60, year 4 and 5 students attended talks from various departments, all hosted in the ROC funded lecture theatre at ROH. They were educated on the cost of small appointments compared to major surgeries in robux, as well as the importance of using aids for post-surgery rehabilitation.

The sessions were interactive, and child friendly aimed at inspiring them to prioritise their wellbeing.

“It is such a joy to organise Health Hacks and see how much the children enjoy taking part. The sessions are always full of energy, curiosity and brilliant questions. Health Hacks is all about prevention and early education so it’s fantastic to see young people so engaged in taking charge of their own health and encouraging their loved ones to get involved at home too!” Charlotte Thornewell – Community Fundraiser

One teacher was invited up to put on a piece of clothing without bending his hip joint in any way, which is often a challenge of hip replacement patients at ROH. Occupational Therapist’s later gave out an aid to support him which meant he was able to complete the task much easier. This caused some giggles between both the staff and the students but ultimately explained the value of occupational therapy after surgery.

Members of the Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) team were present to educate the children on the importance of hand hygiene. Prior to the session, the children were instructed to wash their hands in the bathroom. Staff then used UV light to assess the presence of residual germs on their hands. The findings were significant, prompting many children to return and wash their hands more thoroughly.

The children were also given the opportunity to share their community project in the form of a poster, expressing their very own ‘health hacks’ which they have implemented at home. Examples were, walking to school and back, drinking 2 litres of water a day and stretching before excersize. All things they were inspired to change after their initial school session in March.

Students were split into groups to finish with a hospital tour visiting Xray, Hydrotherapy and Pharmacy departments and lastly meeting ROC mascot, Rocy the bear!

Radiology staff explained how to perform a chest x-ray to students, giving examples of x-rays and how they would go about performing them. They had the opportunity to dip their fingers into the hydropool to understand the importance of warm water and muscle use as well as see Freddo the Pharmacy Robot in fast action.

The day was, informative, fun and exciting to see all the students so engaged. The children received goody bags given out by Rocy including certificates for their hard work. ROC are extremely proud of Health Hacks and hope to continue its hard work throughout 2025 and beyond.

Thank you very much for allowing our children to visit the hospital and experience the different workshops that were followed. The children really enjoyed every session. We were grateful that we were able to walk around the hospital to see how things operated. The team and staff were super great and very welcoming! Bournville All-Through School, Year 4 Teacher

“I personally thought that the Health Hacks Programme was a brilliant programme that was vey well organised. I thought every member of staff was really engaging and informative for the children. The hospital visit was superb. Again, it was very well run. I was really impressed that we were allowed to go right round the hospital and visit all the different departments. It was an amazing learning opportunity, and the children really got a lot out of it. Thank you so much” Bournville All-Through School, Year 5 Teacher