School closes for memorial

[memorial]

Small village primary school, about 120 children from nursery to Yr 6.
A young girl is diagnosed with a brain tumour a few years ago, and died last week. She has a younger sibling in the school. Obviously all the teachers are heartbroken.
But a lot of the children and parents dont know her or her family. Her year group are now in Year 7 so have left the primary.
The school is closing early at 12pm for the memorial. There are obviously a fair number of families who wont go as they have no link or ties to this little girl. But equally all the teachers want to go, and there will be a good number of children and families going.
The memorial is at 1:30pm very close to the school.
There are some disgruntled parents that the whole school is closing.
I am purposefully not saying which side of this I am on.
Is the school BU to close early?

In my younger days I worked for a large police force.

My beautiful first child was stillborn. Every single police officer from my station attended the funeral, all duties were covered voluntarily by officers from surrounding areas.

A large high school here is closing for a full day next week for the funeral of one of the students who took their own life. All exams and lessons have been rearranged and counselling staff have been brought in.

This is real life. Thankfully not the one that some posters on this thread appear to live in.

The school in the OP is doing the right thing in closing.

In my younger days I worked for a large police force.

My beautiful first child was stillborn. Every single police officer from my station attended the funeral, all duties were covered voluntarily by officers from surrounding areas.

A large high school here is closing for a full day next week for the funeral of one of the students who took their own life. All exams and lessons have been rearranged and counselling staff have been brought in.

This is real life. Thankfully not the one that some posters on this thread appear to live in.

The school in the OP is doing the right thing in closing.

It sounds like dd's lovely primary school. This is about values and very important.

Fecking phone - sorry!

"None of you seem to live in the real world where many many businesses could not and certainly would not, just close for the afternoon for any avoidable reason."

I'm quite glad I don't live there. It doesn't sound very nice.

Ask those parents how they would feel if it was their child that had died and the school carried on as normal with no regard for their precious child's life?

Can you not read? Nobody is suggesting school 'carries on as normal'.We are suggesting a few staff don't go to look after the children who don't know the girl/parents can't take them.

Where people don't just think about themselves and money you get communities- where care and respect are shown to others including those outside the immediate family and circle. Our country would be a better happier place to live if more encouragement was given to people to look out for and after each other.

There was a young child a couple of years older than DD with cancer at her small primary. At 8 the child could no longer attend classes. Towards the end the favourite teacher, went round to child's home every night to read a bed time story and talk about the funny things that had happened at school - it soothed the child and gave parents a chance to eat and get the child's siblings to bed etc.

When I heard this I felt so immensely lucky to have a child attending a school where staff would go that extra mile for a sick child and pleased that my dd was spending 7 hours a day being influenced by such caring people. When the child died the whole school closed for the afternoon for the funeral. The favourite teacher helped carry the tiny coffin into local church.

I didn't know the parents except on sight and I was working with child care challenges but I would not have dreamed of being disgruntled at the closure, in fact I remember thinking I don't know how the teachers got through the morning and that they should have had the whole day off.

We had a very similar scenario when my children were in primary; a very much loved ex pupil tragically died in Y7. The school closed and most staff and many pupils attended, (they had two year classes, so many Y6 kids, my own DS included, had been classmates).

I honestly do not remember one single parent complaining about the school closing. I do remember his devastated young male Y6 teacher weeping at the funeral. I remember my inconsolable son. And ten years on, I still remember what a great little kid he was, what a massive loss.

It's on the front page of our local paper amy and certainly not bollocks. But then that doesn't fit your world view, does it?

Not in a country with gcse's thankfully.

When I was 20 a friend who was in my year at school died very suddenly. Our old school closed for the afternoon so the teachers could attend the funeral and we had left 4 years earlier, his family were very touched.

Of course YANBU, OP.

Obviously there's the very important aspect of showing support and comfort to the family, but going to the memorial will also be a really important part of the grieving process for the teachers who cared for this young girl. So the school is doubly right for closing - it shows respect to the family and enables those who cared about the child to have the chance to say goodbye. Just sending a representative might show some respect but it wouldn't enable multiple individuals who are grieving to experience the memorial themselves, in a way that might matter to them a lot.

Ah fair enough! If you had been in the UK the school would definitely not have closed !

We can all read Amy. Able to read that you would be majorly pissed off if a school of only 55 pupils shut for one afternoon because of the death of one of its EX-pupils. As if people just stop caring about a child who left only nine months ago. Your position is very clear. So is the viewpoint of the vast majority of posters with regard to what you've said.

When I was at school several children died, including the HM's DD.School carried on as normal

Bloody hell

You really are an embarrassment

"Sorry but that is bollocks, there are 'A' levels and GCSEs next week.They can't just be 'rearranged' for another day!!"

Its impossible to re arrange A-level or GCSE exams. There is very little leeway when exams can be started. (ie. about half an hour either side of offical start time.) However exams are really short these days and it may well be the case that it is still possible for teachers and pupils to attend a funeral in the afternoon. Some GCSE subjects have very few candidiates. It may well be the case that a school has no one sitting certain subjects. (For example my son's school does not offer GCSE spanish)

. For all those on the thread who have lost children, I really hope you don't feel too distressed at the attitudes of the few on the thread who think finding childcare for 3 hours is too much in these circumstances.

My school is a similar size op. We closed when a beloved colleague of over 10 years died. To my knowledge not a single person complained. Those that weren't going to her funeral still understood. It was a massive loss to our community and it would have felt horribly disrespectful not to have closed. In a small school amy and Baltimore teachers may have taught the child for 3 years and seen them every school day for 7 years. Of course they will want to attend the service.

So if an exam was scheduled for 1.30-3.00 pm and the school was closing at 12, you REALLY think the exam board would let them sit it in the morning and then (having no teachers to supervise them ) let them run off home to tell people at other schools what was on the paper!!!

They are primary school children you goady twit.

Lots of public sector organisations-schools, police stations etc closing for funerals.
So what happens about pay? Presumably it is unpaid? What if one teacher wants to work, do they lose their pay too?

Pupils died when I was at school too. School carried on and only a few went to the funerals, as that's what the parents wanted. But more people wanted to go, and it was unthinkable that anyone would have moaned if school had closed early. A young lad of 10 was killed here recently. Most businesses in the town closed for the afternoon of his funeral. The whole community mourned him as one of their own, and it brought enormous comfort to the family.

Presumably it is unpaid?

Why?

Amy, what exactly is your issue? You are being very cold and clinical here. It's one afternoon of primary school (or at least the opening post and main thread has been as such). Schools have shut for less reasons before now. There are few reasons in life for things come to a stop, the death of a child is one of them. It is the time for a community to come together, that includes a school, for support through a truly tragic time. Are you seriously telling us three hours of school is more important than showing some empathy?

amy please stop. Disagreeing is fine but you are talking about the most emotive subject for parents including some who have been those parents. School may have continued when your head's child died but we and possibly you don't know how well the teachers and pupils knew that child.
The thread was started by the friend of grieving parents. That much was clear when you began posting. Just because you think differently it doesn't make you a radical voice of reason. You're actively upsetting bereaved parents.
You arguing the toss isn't going to change anything. So please do the right thing now and bid the thread good night.