No children denied access to Den thanks to funding    

NO child at Saint Mark’s Warrenpoint will be denied access to the school’s Den facility thanks to £1,000 worth of funding which has been allocated towards the project.

The Den, which acts as a safe space and sensory room for children with a SEN or mental health issue , was named as one of five recipients of funding during an event held recently at Warrenpoint town hall.

Whilst the den facility began life over a decade ago  as a refuge for those children who could not spend time outside at break and lunch, it has since grown to serve as a sanctuary for children with all manner of needs, with further plans in the pipeline for development.

 For Mrs  Karen Crummy, who is the Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator  at Saint Mark’s and whose own child is non-verbal , the need for such a facility as the den is an absolute necessity  not only in the school that she works in but in primary and post primary institutions all across the north.

Zen in the Den

“The Den is a safe space in Saint Mark's for our children with needs who perhaps cannot cope in the school at busy times like break and lunch” said Mrs Crummy.

“ It is a space where they can retreat and it is a very supportive environment for emotional regulation, sensory processing and for a moment of calm. It is a nurture space for them where they can recharge and refocus.

“In The Den there is a TV and they have laptops. This is where they can chill out and play their games. We bought fidget toys ourselves, myself and the staff.

“ With me being the pastoral year head over the number of years here I had children who really needed this.

“It was originally opened up for children with statements of special educational needs but I have children landing at my door that don't have a statement but their needs are unreal and we cannot turn any child away. Even at the minute we are finding that we have an awful lot of children with anxiety, it is not just those statemented children.”

Whilst the Den began life as a relatively small area within saint Mark’s throughout the course of its lifespan it has since grown to accommodate for multiple children with varying different levels of need as well as work in tandem with a purpose built classroom established in the school’s library.         

  Growing the Den

“ It was initially just a wee small room. Then it grew. We got a wee bit of funding a couple of years ago and this allowed them to get it of the ground.

“It was originally for children who could not go out at break and it was just a wee small room. Then it grew. We got a wee bit of funding a couple of years ago and this allowed them to get it of the ground.

“With me being the pastoral year head over the number of years here I had children who really needed this. This is why we had the driving force behind it and we knew it had to get bigger. The school had nowhere to do a bigger den so what we have done is made the library into a  purpose classroom and we have enlarged the den area.

“ At break time we may have had 31 children up in the den. This is children from mainstream plus our children coming up from LFC and ECPD. We want the inclusion and we don't want those children down in LFC and ECPD all day long. So we have a real mix of children in the den at break time.

“Even if children are funny about going to the canteen and eating food they go over and we have given them what is called a fast pass. They go to the top of the que and they can go over and take their lunch in the den. My idea is that I have children who can't cope with people eating around them so this is a different area where you can sit and have your lunch, your chill out area.

“Every school both post and pre-primary should have a facility like this, without a doubt. My own wee boy is mainstream and they have their own wee room. I was down in Saint Louis in  Kilkeel, myself and the vice-principal. They have a nurture room slightly different to our Den but we have come back and we feel the great need for a nurture room here in Saint Marks s well.

“The Den has just become too much. It is losing it purpose and I want it to have its proper purpose. The nurture room would be for your school refusers who come into school, they have a base all day and you are not asking them to go out to class. You have a full time teacher and a full time classroom assistant with them. This is our next avenue. However we need money and funding to do all these things.”

Grand Funding

It was thanks to the votes cast by those who attened an event recently held within the Warrenpoint Town Hall that the Den has become one of five named recipients of over £1000 worth of funding, which as Mrs Crummy explains will do its part to ensure no child in Saint Mark’s is denied access to The Den.

“It was a great morning in Warrenpoint Town Hall. It was great opportunity to showcase our school and particularly the Den. We met current and future students with their parents, guardians and family members.

“We went to Warrenpoint Town Hall to try and acquire funding because their is such a need, it is through the roof at school,

“The event is ran by the council. I put in the application form for Saint Mark's and you have to have a project. Our project is the den. There will be 20 schools. The way it works is people go around with a vote sheet. You have to get every stall to stamp your vote sheet and then you vote for your top five. Every group gets £1000.

“We did up a big display  at the Warrenpoint Town Hall and I have done up a few comments from the children, what The Den means to them and a write up of  what our whole purpose is

“ I got a pop up banner made , the words for the DEN are diversity, equality, nurturing. What sold ours was that our name was amazing abilities. They love the idea that everyone has an ability that is amazing in it own right. It all came down to voting on the day.

“People may have said no, that is a school we can't be giving to them but they have to understand that although  we are part of a school without The Den and without The Den moving forward we will have to start sending children away. I don't want to be doing this. I don't want it to stay the same at the minute, I want it to become something greater.

“The Den is not fit for purpose anymore. For example we have 31 children in first year with statements of needs. We also have our children from our special needs unit down below and our learning support classroom come up to it at break time. Some days we would have 35 children coming into it.

“We got it expanded and have took over what was the library. The idea is to try and get it finished and get new facilitators in. I have had Gary Day from the Garden of Music in chatting to me about doing a bit of music therapy or different things with the children.   

“This is the idea of me moving forward with the Den. Up until this point it has been a safe space in school with our classroom assistants but it is about trying to get other people in who would be experts.”