By Juliet Wraith, Teacher
OHS pupils at the Oxford Children’s Hospital have been given the chance to explore the world far beyond their hospital wards after the school received funding from the Oxford Hospitals Charity to purchase eight virtual reality headsets from RedBoxVR.
Thanks to the technology, pupils have been experiencing what it’s like to dive down to the depths of the ocean, explore the rainforests of Borneo, discover the wildlife of Antarctica, live aboard the International Space Station, and visit the Seven Wonders of the World.
It has been wonderful to watch the pupils’ excitement as they see the world in a new way; to see younger pupils reach out to touch fish, and older pupils point out things they have spotted in the new environment they are exploring. We have used the headsets within cross-curricular workshops, combining drama games, science and geography, which have then inspired some fantastic literacy work.
For many of our pupils at the Children’s Hospital, school trips and family holidays have to be put on hold during treatment, and their worlds can feel very small. Virtual reality technology is a brilliant way of bringing trips to them and enabling them to experience what the world has to offer.