When the world outside touches our school

The world has been shocked by what has happened in France over the weekend and of course this is the second time in a year that such an awful thing has happened to the people of France. And this time it has touched our school directly which has made this horror even more real.

Awful events on beaches in Tunisia where many British people were on holiday and the awful event involving a Russian plane of people returning from their holidays make it seem like the world has gone mad.

But. The scenes I witnessed in EF Academy Torbay today was a glimmer of hope and it shows that we can have a better future and that what we do in our schools is to create a future where hatred, discrimination and violence are not accepted because we are every race and every religion and we live side by side with understanding and compassion.

Today we all stopped and gathered together to talk about this awful event and in silence we remembered those who died. Muslim students from many parts of the world spoke of their religion as a faith of humanity and tolerance and read from their holy book pieces that forbid this hatred Neil our guidance counselor who is Christian gave us similar readings from the bible all to emphasize how this kind of act is not in their name. We then heard from one of our French students who has been directly affected by this, his bravery so clear for us all to see.

We should all be very proud that what we create in our schools is tolerance and respect. If only the rest of the world could follow our example.