Posted by Mrs Blow on 12/09/22

It was a very sad end to the great start to this academic year with the news of the passing of Her Majesty the Queen. We started the week with a new Prime Minister and ended the week with a new Sovereign.

Over the weekend, the government announced that Monday 19th September, the day of the Queen’s funeral, will be a National Bank Holiday. This means that schools across the whole of the United Kingdom will be closed, as will shops and most workplaces.

The last state funeral of a British monarch was for King George VI, the Queen’s father, in 1952. We know that pupils and staff will want to watch this historic event, which will be televised.

Any school events planned for this day, including “meet the teacher events” will be postponed. If you were due to attend a school event on 19th September, we will contact you in due course with a revised date. Schools will be open as usual throughout the remainder of the ten-day mourning period, but we will continue to mark what has happened as appropriate and to answer the questions of pupils sensitively and supportively.

Our assembly today focused on the qualities the Queen possessed that made her so successful over such a long period of time. Irrespective of your viewpoint, her commitment and reliability were matched by her ability to adapt to change and recognise that the Britain of 1952 was very different to the modern world of today. Like everyone, she made mistakes but showed a resilience and dedication to duty that were a real example to all.

Many Morden children were fortunate to meet Her Majesty in 2019 and we reflected and remembered those experiences today. I am sure that the following week will see an outpouring of gratitude on a national scale. We will also probably see some public grief at the nation’s loss. Although not personal to our students, it may be that this public display of emotions will trigger memories for some of the losses they may have suffered. If your child needs support, we are here to help.