In Monday's school assembly we spoke about Ariana Grande's concert the night before and how special it was.  I talked a little about the recent incidents in London and Manchester, but also about the many people who have been affected by these terrorist acts.

We spoke about how children here should be friendly, well behaved and supportive of eachother; touching on the fundamental Britsh Values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of others.

We also sang Katie Perry's ROAR (the lyrics of which are almost appropriate).

It is an emotive subject, but one that needed to be touched on with the children so they know that they can come to adults in the school and talk about things if they needed to.  I know that some classes ended up having short discussions during the day that supported our children a little further.  In line with the decision announced by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport yesterday, we also observed the minute's silence at 11am this morning.   Ringing the school bell inside the buidling, and hearing the school fall silent is quite poignant.  Your children observed this impeccably and showed incredible maturity and I'm proud of them for doing so.

Newsround has a good article about why we hold minute silences at http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/13865002 , they have other articles about the actual incidents but also a good advice page if your child is upset by any of this.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/13865002

Regards,
Julian Thomas