A letter to my school community

Lettter from the Headteacher in response to the events in Manchester

Dear parents,

I am sure you will all be very aware of the terrible events that have taken place in Manchester this week.   My heart goes out to the families of all those involved and the people of Manchester. 

I know that this will have affected you and your families greatly and I know there are many of you that will have woken up yesterday and today with a feeling of uncertainty and fear; for yourselves and in particular for your children.

I am a mother too and I understand your fear. I share those fears for the future. I sent my son to school this morning hoping he would be safe and entrusting him to the staff

There is no way that I can guarantee nothing like this will ever happen again. There are no guarantees in life and I would be lying if I told you anything different. The United Kingdom Government has escalated the current threat level to critical, as you know, meaning that there could be further incidents.

I am here as your headteacher to tell you that in school we are doing everything to keep your children safe; as we always have done. Staff are fully briefed on emergency procedures and evacuations. The site is secure and our site staff and admin remain vigilant at all times.

We have close links with both the local authority and the local police.

This is all precautionary. What I want you to do is to trust that we will take care of your children. They will be safe, but at the same time, they will be able to enjoy their school day, because education is a basic human right. And I believe that we should not allow the actions of a very small number of dreadful people to take away our rights or those of our children. Life is precious and we should enjoy every second. 

If you have any immediate concerns please don’t hesitate to get in touch and myself or Mrs xxxxxx will do our best to reassure you.

I would like to end by reminding you all that Battle Academy is now and will always be a fully inclusive, diverse and multicultural community. We welcome families regardless of their gender, race or religion. The actions of a minority do not represent any part of our community and we do not tolerate hatred and violence at any level.

Yours Sincerely

Mrs Joanne Gray

Headteacher