Sad News

It is with great sadness that I am writing to inform you that our much loved colleague and talented teacher, Mrs Hellie Meaney has passed away following a sudden deterioration in her illness.

We are all, as you can imagine, devastated to lose such an inspirational, creative and caring member of our team. Hellie has been a valued teacher at our school for 12 years, however we recognise that many of our younger children and their parents may not know her.  Therefore, we are leaving it to you as a parent to make the decision whether you wish to inform your child as it is not something we plan to discuss with the younger children unless we need to respond to their questions.

It will, I am sure, impact on our Y5 and 6 classes and you may prefer to share this news yourself with your child before they come into school tomorrow.  As a school we will be supporting your child through this difficult time but also recognise the importance of continuing to offer normal routines to offer a sense of security and familiarity.

You may find it difficult to talk to your child about such sad news so therefore we have sought advice from specialist counsellors on how to discuss this.  The advice is as follows:

• Find a calm place and time to talk to your child;
• Use clear age appropriate language whilst not going into too much detail;
• Acknowledge the sad news with your child in a calm manner;
• Reassure your child that sudden death is not a common occurrence;
• Answer questions honestly and yet in an age appropriate manner.

Although the coming weeks will be difficult for us all, it is important that your child attends school to maintain routine and familiarity.

Further information can be found on www.childbereavementuk.org