In My View: School tragedy is a wake-up call

We had all sorts of worries of our little girl starting the ‘big school’ this year and she was pretty scared herself, afraid of not settling in and being bullied, all the usual stuff kids go through these days.

The first few days were quite nervous affairs for us old yins as there was a bit of drama on the first day with one of the other pupils, but she dealt with it in her own way and moved on and is enjoying school, I think.

We were all delighted when she told us excitedly about certain subjects – even maths, which she hates – and the fact that she made a new friend from another town.

Indeed, the new friend and two other pals then had a (noisy) sleepover at ours, cementing our joy and relief that our girl is settling in well at her new school.

Our anxieties were also put to rest at an open evening for parents when the school outlined its successes and curriculum opportunities and the drive and enthusiasm of the teachers left us confident our child is in good hands for her education.

The school, however, suffered a tragic moment of madness last week when a pupil was allegedly slashed in the face by another pupil in the dining hall.

When you hear something as horrific as this has happened you instantly feel for the parents of those involved and wonder what pain they might be going through. I couldn’t bear it, personally.

The incident has shaken my daughter up, although not as badly as I first feared thankfully, on the face of it anyway, but it scares the living daylights out of me.