Fellgate Primary School celebrates the opening of its new sensory room and community hub
Fellgate Primary School has turned a disused building into a state-of-the-art sensory room for autistic pupils and a community hub for local residents.
The Fellgate Hub at Fellgate Primary School, on Oxford Way, officially opened on Wednesday, March 29.
The hub features a sensory room and garden designed for the school’s autistic pupils as well as a meeting room for members of the local community to come and use.
Alongside the new hub, a sensory garden has also been created in memory of the school’s communication champion, Alison Thompson, who sadly passed away a few years ago.
Julia Tones, the headteacher of Fellgate Primary School, told the Gazette about how the new space is helping the school as a whole after it stood empty for many years.
She said: “We have a resource base here for children who are diagnosed with autism and as an authority, we need more places for children with autism so we agreed that if we could put a sensory space in this building, we could include a further classroom in the main school.
"The SEND team provided funding for us to update the building so we now have a state-of-the-art sensory provision, we have office space and a meeting room.
"We want to develop this further and have groups from the community using this space.
"All the staff and pupils love it, it provides a professional space for us all so everyone’s reaction to it is really positive, it has improved our provision throughout the school.”
The Deputy Mayor of South Tyneside, Richard Porthouse, was also at the opening of the hub and he praised the facilities that the space offers to both pupils and the local community.
He commented: “I think these are fantastic facilities, especially when you think about this building standing empty for a lot of years and now it has been brought into life.
"The sensory room, I think, is essential for all schools to help children that need it.
"We’ve got so many great communities in South Tyneside so these kinds of spaces are the perfect way to bring more people together.”