Dear parents/carers,

 

We have some very sad news to share. We’ve been informed that Eric, a pupil in Maple class, year 3, has died. Eric was admitted to hospital after a short illness and died shortly afterwards. Eric was a kind, loving and funny 8 year old with a lot to say and so much to offer to his class. He took his role as big brother so seriously and was a credit to his family. His death leaves a huge void in the lives of all who knew him.

 

We’ve been in contact with the family to express how sad we are about this news and to offer our support. Understandably, the family is still coming to terms with what’s happened and appreciates having some privacy for now.

 

 Our thoughts and prayers obviously go out to all of his family including his two brothers and three sisters who are immersed in grief at this time. Many of your children will know of Eric’s siblings and so we anticipate the ripple effect to spread through the community in different ways for all of our children. As parents and teachers, we love all of the children in our care and so we ask for your support and compassion as we all come to terms with this tragic loss. Love involves worrying about them every day, whenever and wherever they come to mind. Love is wondering whether you are doing the right thing, even when they complain. Love is making difficult decisions to keep each other safe and happy in the longer term. Love is all of this and love can sometimes hurt.

 

 Our values of Resilience, Respect, Responsibility, Collaboration, Confidence and Community are all underpinned by love. We will ensure that Eric is remembered in due course, for now we need to support each other and the family.

 

We’ll be in touch soon with details about:

 

 • How we’ll come together as a school to celebrate Eric’s life

• How we’ll provide support for children as they grieve

• How you/we can support Eric’s siblings and family at this heartbreaking time.

 

 We’ve shared this news with children in year 3- year 6 but have not yet informed children in the infants. Year 3 classes will have specific support available in the coming days and weeks. If you have concerns about how your child is coping with this news, please speak to your class teacher or contact the school office. We will keep school as ‘normal as possible’ so that the children feel safe to express themselves if they need to but also safe and happy to escape the sadness should they want to do so too.

 

Thank you for your help and understanding at this difficult time.

 

Kind regards

 

Mrs Nathalie Dummer Federation Headteacher