Dear Parent,
It is with great sadness that I wish to inform you that this weekend, one of our staff, Mr John McCarthy, teacher and soccer coach, has died after battling an illness.
We are all profoundly shocked and saddened by his death.
Our thoughts are with John’s family at this sad time.
We have shared this information with your children today and had discussions with all the students in their classrooms. The school Guidance Counselling staff, Chaplain, teachers, and other support staff have been, and will continue to be available to students, teachers and parents. Please contact the school if you have any questions or concerns.
As a parent, you may want to talk to your child about death because it impacts each person in different ways. How children react will depend on the relationships they had with the person who died, their age, level of development, and their prior experience with death. Your child may: appear unaffected, ask questions about the death repeatedly, be angry or aggressive, be withdrawn or moody, be sad or depressed, become fearful or scared, have difficulty sleeping or eating.
We suggest that you listen to your children. If they want to talk, answer their questions simply, honestly and be prepared to answer the same questions repeatedly.
Sincerely,
Anton O Mahony
Principal
Skibbereen Community School