Member's statement: St Colm's High School, Ballinascreen: Occupational Therapy Project
Member's statement by Ms Emma Sheerin on .
- MLA
- Ms Emma Sheerin
- Party at the time
- Sinn Féin
- Date
- 17 February 2026
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- St Colm's High School, Ballinascreen: Occupational Therapy Project
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5394257
Read the official Assembly record
Text
Maidin mhaith daoibh.
I take the opportunity this morning to pay tribute to a school in my constituency, which is very special and close to my heart, because it is the one that I attended: St Colm's High School in Ballinascreen. Many of you may have noticed the feature on 'BBC Newsline' last week on a fantastic pilot programme that the school is involved in. As part of the pilot, three OT students from Ulster University work in the school with pupils, particularly on mental health and anxiety, helping them to identify the physical manifestation of worry and anxiety in themselves and teaching them coping mechanisms and strategies to deal with that. As was referred in the piece on 'BBC Newsline' last week, the students who got involved all felt that it was really worthwhile and of great benefit. Forward-thinking and innovative practices are nothing strange or startling at St Colm's. It is a small school, but it is always leading the way, looking at new ways of doing things and how to improve life for the school community. As Members, we will all have had experience of schools coming to us on the issues of mental health and anxiety and the new challenges that they have to navigate as these modern times wear on. The pilot initiative has been really worthwhile initiative. Just before Christmas, I had the pleasure of attending the St Colm's career fair, which is now an annual event that brings together all the local businesses and shows pupils the different career opportunities that are open to them. It provides the local businesses with access to the brilliant new talent that is on their doorsteps. That is another example of the school community working with local organisations. The pilot is a result of Thrive Sperrins, which is led by Workspace in collaboration with the Northern Health and Social Care Trust, partnering with Ulster University to bring in the OT students, providing them with valuable work experience and adding benefit to the lives of pupils and teachers alike. I congratulate everybody involved at St Colm's, particularly Miss McAllister and the leadership team there, on the fantastic work that they are doing, and I urge everyone to believe and achieve.
372 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not flagged”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.02 (flagging needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not flagged).
- None of the five culture-war criteria was met (each was below 0.60).
- No identity-based framing was identified (1.00).
- Subject area: Disability (including neurodivergence and mental health), disabled people and disability or sickness benefits.
- The overall probability was at or below the not-flagging threshold.
This is an AI-generated assessment of the text, made against published criteria. It is not a finding of fact about the MLA or their intentions. The Assembly record itself is the fact.
Jev’s structured answers
| Question | Probability | Met? |
|---|---|---|
| Identity framing | 0.02 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.01 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.01 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.01 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.02 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.11 | No |
| Overall judgement | 0.02 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 1.00 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.00 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Disability (including neurodivergence and mental health), disabled people and disability or sickness benefits | 0.67 |
| Irish language, Ulster-Scots and language policy | 0.16 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.14 |
| Education structures, integration and community division | 0.02 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 14:33 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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