Endless visits to specialists and hospitals, organising the care of siblings and determining how best to support the child’s education while they are away from the classroom are just some of the challenges.

Fourteen-year-old Jasper Ruiz and his family know what its like only too well. The Year 8 Keira High School student was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in Year 5, and has missed a lot of school. Thankfully a program aimed at supporting him to catch up with his school work has provided a lifeline.

Jasper accesses the Ronald McDonald Learning Program (RMLP), which supports students enrolled in mainstream kindergarten to Year 12 who are falling behind academically after missing large amounts of school due to serious illness. Jasper’s father Tony Ruiz said the program had helped his son get back on track.

“Jasper has missed a lot of groundwork from being away from school,” Mr Ruiz said. “He’s also had a lot of complications which are still ongoing and because of chemo he gets very tired, can lack energy and find it hard to concentrate.”

As a result, Mr Ruiz said Jasper’s school reports showed he was lacking focus, but once he was assessed by RMLP and matched with Sabine Kelly as his learning tutor, he’d made great improvements.

“Sabine has concentrated on helping Jasper get his assignments done. Her gentle approach has really helped him become more confident. Now he’s starting to see good results, he’s definitely got an energy and an excitement about learning. I really value her.”

Mrs Kelly, who has been working as a learning tutor with RMLP for five years said missing school had a huge impact on the students.

“There are so many gaps to fill,” Mrs Kelly said. “This program is magical because working with the kids one-on-one gives you the opportunity to see something exceptional in them.”

She said she was amazed by the resilience of students accessing the program. “These kids are going through horrible treatment. Some are in constant pain and they’re always battling fatigue. They miss a phenomenal amount due to treatment, ongoing specialist appointments and other illnesses they get. I’m astounded at how positive these kids are.”

Jasper is one of 258 students in NSW and 10 from the South Coast currently using the program. Funded by Ronald McDonald House Charities, the program offers funded tuition for up to 40 hours according to the needs of the student. RMLP Education Coordinator Leanne Pattinson said students on the program had a range of conditions including cancer, diabetes, asthma, transplants, Crohn’s disease, cardiac disease, and cystic fibrosis.

“RMLP aims to help alleviate families concerns about their child’s education,” Mrs Pattinson said. 

“When you have a child with a serious illness, you become their parent, teacher, advocate, nurse, social worker and more. We try to relieve the burden when it comes to education and ensure students are able to get back on track with their studies, and parents can spend more time being parents, not teachers.”

Erin Bunting first accessed the program while attending Austinmer Public School. Diagnosed with venolymphatic malformation of the head and face as a baby, she has missed school due to regular surgery. Now in Year 7 at Bulli High, her mum Jane said the assistance provided by RMLP had assisted Erin’s transition to high school. “The biggest benefit for Erin has been her confidence,” Mrs Bunting said. “Erin picked maths as the area she needed help with and now she is above average in her class and it’s one of her favourite subjects. 

“If she hadn’t had the tutoring before she started high school I think it would have been a huge struggle to try and catch up.”

Student’s accessing RMLP have their education needs assessed before an individual education plan is developed. RMLP can also collaborate with the student’s home school and offers training for teachers working with students with a chronic illness at school. Interested families can contact RMLP on (02) 9845 0630.