St Gregory's staff talk to pupils on Russia's invasion of Ukraine

St Gregory's Catholic High School, based on Cromwell Avenue, wanted to provide a platform for students to ask questions and to understand the situation.

The school’s head teacher, Ed McGlinchey, said staff were ‘conscious’ that pupils are keen to understand about the world – as this is evident in their history and religious studies lessons.

He also addressed how it is important to be talk and be open as well as support and reach out to members of the local community who may be affected by wider implications of the conflict.

Mr McGlinchey said: "At St Gregory’s we are proud to have pupils who have a thirst for knowledge and understanding of the world we live in. 

“We have a sense of duty to ensure that pupils are well educated in matters that affect world peace, but not only on a world level but on a European and local level. 

“We are proud to have a community that we share with all nationalities, and we are aware that members of our school community will be deeply affected by the current conflict situation. 

“Even at a local economic level families are affected by fuel and energy prices and it is important that children understand how all of these issues can be interconnected.”

One way which staff at the school decided to educate pupils on the invasion was to provide support for parents – in the form of guidance on how to talk to their children about the situation.

Teachers were also provided with resources to discuss the situation with pupils in form time and also address how conflict may affect the wider community who may have friends or family in Eastern European countries or Russia.

The issue of misinformation has also been highlighted to St Gregory’s pupils to ensure the information they receive is from correct sources.

And the school is providing support to the children who may feel emotional or fearful over the conflict.

“Conflict creates uncertainly and fear and we need to provide clarity around this and address the questions that children and indeed, their families may have,” Mr McGlinchey added.

“We also want to ensure our pupils understand the concepts of misinformation and unreliable news sources so that they are able to form an accurate understanding of what is going on.

“All of this reflects our school prayer which talks about love and respect and challenging injustice.

“To do that we have asked our form tutors to discuss the conflict situation and during our collective worship assemblies we have been praying for all innocent people who have been affected and traumatised by the impact of war."