Latest News
Posted on March 4th 2022
Help Us Make a Sensory Room for Vulnerable Pupils
We are fundraising for a sensory room to help students with sensory and/or mental health needs. Can you help to make this possible?
Please click HERE to visit our GoFundMe page. Thank you.
We have already found a room that we can repurpose into a sensory room and safe haven, but we don’t have the additional funding required to equip it. That's where we need your help.
We have already been lucky enough to have found a local artist who has volunteered her time and materials free of charge, but we need to raise funds to equip the room. Please click HERE to visit our GoFundMe page.
Why we need a sensory room
For some children, school will be the best part of their day, a warm safe environment to learn and grow in. For some, school is a place to meet friends and explore the world.
While for others, school is a daily challenge, an overwhelming mix of emotions and experiences.
At Harris Academy St John’s Wood we provide support for local children with a wide range of needs including Autistic Spectrum Disorder, Hearing and Visual Impairment and those facing Mental Health challenges.
These children can find the school environment particularly challenging, and while they benefit from learning in a mainstream setting alongside their peers, there are times when they need can refocus and take time to reflect.
We strive to make school a positive experience for all our pupils through listening to them, their families and the other agencies that work with them. We work tirelessly to meet their needs, to ensure that our pupils are offered the same opportunities and experiences as their peers and to encourage them to celebrate their differences whilst recognising that we are all part of one community.
We have found that Covid-19 and the resulting lockdowns and regulations have had a serious impact on the Mental Health of our pupils, not only those who are recognised as having SEND, but increasingly among the whole school community. We need to act now to support these children and have identified the need to create a sensory room where our students can take time out whenever they may be feeling overwhelmed.
We would like to dedicate the new room to an ex-student of ours who we tragically lost in December 2021. This young person suffered greatly with her own Mental Health challenges but always tried her best at school and formed strong relationships with the teachers and other adults that worked with her. We would like to dedicate this safe space to her as a permanent reminder to her friends and classmates, as we know how much she would have benefited from a sensory room in the early days of her experiencing Mental Health challenges.
How can you help?
The school has found a room that we can repurpose into a sensory room and safe haven, but we don’t have the additional funding required to equip it.
Please click HERE to donate equipment or funds towards this life changing project. Thank you.
Thank you, and sharing this project further will be a big help too.
