Stromness pupils send messages of sympathy and support to King Charles III

Stromness Primary School pupils have written sympathy letters and messages of support to King Charles III after reflecting on the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II.

The P4/5 class were also given the opportunity to hear first-hand from Orkney’s Lord Lieutenant Elaine Grieve – a former Head Teacher at Stromness Primary School and now the King’s representative in the county – who attended at the funeral of our late monarch.

Ms Grieve has not only passed on the mail to the correct address but also shared her thoughts and memories of meeting with our King prior to his accession, when he was the Duke of Rothesay.

Ms Grieve said it was not only wonderful to step back into a classroom but to hear the enthusiasm of the children had been uplifting.

“I was delighted to be asked to share my personal experiences as Lord Lieutenant, to explain the role itself, and to reflect on my time spent with members of the Royal Family, which is, of course, always a great honour.

“The pupils were entirely engaging and listened with intent, thereafter, asking some very interesting questions. It was not only a privilege to attend at our late monarch’s funeral but a privilege to share this with a delightful young audience.”

P4 Teacher, Joanna Tulloch, said: “The class were very aware of the monarchy and Queen Elizabeth thanks to the Platinum Jubilee celebrations earlier in the year when the school bairns made crowns and paraded through the streets of Stromness with the pipe band and singing before a crowd at the Town House.

“Following the death of our monarch, the school held a remembrance assembly, but class discussions kept veering back to her passing, the funeral and the monarchy in general. We were looking at the photo of the whole school with their crowns on and a suggestion was made that we should send it to King Charles to show him how much we had enjoyed the Jubilee but also to offer up our condolcences.

“The pupils wrote some wonderful letters to him which really highlighted the sentiment of the whole thing - how sad they were that Queen Elizabeth had died but how they thought he would do a really good job as he had learned from her.  

“It was also a fantastic opportunity for them to learn about writing a formal letter but with a very real purpose.”

Ms Grieve attended at the school in full uniform.

Joanna added: “It was absolutely fantastic - they were so interested in her job and what she does as Lord Lieutenant as well as being fascinated at what she could tell us about being at the actual funeral.  They had so many questions they wanted to ask her - she was in for an hour, but she could've spent all day with us.

“I think that for them, hearing from someone who had actually met King Charles and could tell us about him as a person gave them a real life 'link' to King Charles.

“For me the whole thing has been a real child led learning experience for them - it stemmed from their interest in what was happening nationally in the news and we were able to turn it into a local and tangible learning experience for them.”

The pupils are now learning “patience” as they wait to see if they will receive a reply.

Joanna said: “The pupils are really hoping that we hear back in some capacity but they are also very aware that there has been a huge amount of correspondence sent to the new King and so a reply may be out of the question. I think just knowing that the letters have been sent is exciting enough though!”

According to news shared on the Royal Family’s Instagram account, the King and his wife, the Queen consort, have received more than 50,000 letters and cards from the public, offering their support during this sad time. The account adds that a small but dedicated correspondence team are carefully sorting, reading and responding to the messages – so fingers crossed for the pupils of Stromness Primary.