New sensory room dedicated to the memory of caretaker

A KIND-HEARTED staff member from St Aidan’s Community School in Brookfield who died last March has been memorialised in a newly-opened sensory room in the school.

Opened last week, Theresa’s Room is in memory of Fettercairn woman Theresa Hogan who worked in the school as a caretaker for over 30 years, and who is dearly missed by staff and students.

“Theresa was the caretaker in the school up until last year when she got sick,” Kevin Shortall, principal of St Aidan’s CS, told The Echo.

“She was one of those people where she’d keep her eye out to make sure everyone was OK and she wouldn’t just make you a cup of tea, she’d do whatever you needed.

“It was terrible when she passed away, but everyone spoke about Theresa in great terms – she was everything to everyone. She was a magical person, and everyone talks about how kind she was.

“There was a younger staff member who was helping me to plan the room, and he said we should call it Theresa’s Room.

“I said, ‘You didn’t even know her, you didn’t work with her’, and he said, ‘But I’ve heard about her’.

“I couldn’t get over the fact that he’d never worked with her, but he came up with this idea.”

Theresa’s family were proudly there when the ribbon was cut for the opening of the room last week, and Mr Shortall said it will be enormously beneficial to the school community.

“Anybody who needs the room can have access to it, but it would be particularly useful for students with sensory needs or who are in our autism class,” he explained.

“It’s a space that will be used very much on an evolving basis, it can be a ‘calm down’ space for anyone who feels they need it.

“There was a student talking the other day and she said, imagine you’re hearing echoes and talking louder than everyone else, and it affects your brain so much you get overwhelmed.

“You can’t learn and you can’t focus.

“Then you go into the sensory room . . . it’s a peaceful space for students with sensory issues.

“The room gives them the injection of calm they need to get on with their day and it brings them back to a sense of calm, balance, and equilibrium.”

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