Introducing le lycée de la Clinique Soins-Etudes (Sablé-sur-Sarthe, France) and
la Fondation Santé des Etudiants de France (FSEF)
After our first participation to the Dublin HOPE Conference in 2025 and before the next one in Manchester in March 2027 here is a presentation of our structure. Le lycée de la Clinique Soins-Etudes, our facility in Sablé-sur-Sarthe, western France (half-way between Paris and Brittany) is only one of the 13 school-hospital of the FSEF network. https://www.fsef-sante-etudes.fr/
La Fondation Santé des Etudiants de France (FSEF) was founded in 1923. Its main goal is to develop and manage healthcare facilities with a very specific purpose: to provide dual care through both medical treatment and education. Its hospital-schools provide psychiatric care, physical medicine and rehabilitation, as well as follow-up care for patients who are mainly adolescents and young adults (aged 12-25). Every year, it welcomes more than 10,000 patients and users, aged 12 to 25, to its 26 locations, clinics and medico-social facilities throughout France. (See map and figures)
All admissions to our school are carried out on medical grounds but the health and educational services work together in a therapeutic alliance. We welcome about 100 patient-students suffering from psychiatric disorders, aged between 16 and 21 years old, mainly from the western regions of France. It is a psychiatric hospital with a school inside. The teachers work as part of a multidisciplinary team with mental health professionals. The aim of the school is to maintain a school identity throughout the treatment of mental illness, to help young people to find a place in society and regain confidence. The vast majority of the students admitted have dropped out of school and very often suffer from school phobias that hinder their inclusion into mainstream educational structures. A dedicated staff of 25 teachers, a head of studies and an educational advisor work in this school equipped with 18 classrooms, a sports hall, and a library.
A majority of our youth are boarding students/patients, accommodated in single or double rooms provided by 5 hospital units inside the building. Those going for more autonomy can enjoy integrated flats. Another unit is a day hospital.
OUR CHALLENGES TODAY :
- Maintaining a dual provision where each team of professionals share enough.
- Preparing for national curriculums and standard exams while class conditions are adapted.
- Supporting our patients-students to help them transition out of our structure and return to traditional educational pathways.
- Finding a right balance between granting young people vast forms of support to overcome their challenges while leaving room for individual responsibility.
We’d be more than happy to open our doors to you if you want to visit us or engage in any collaboration project.
Youenn Collobert
English teacher at le lycée de la Clinique Soins-Etudes, Sablé-sur-Sarthe (France)
Email address : youenn.collobert@ac-nantes.fr
