Rhys Jones: How pupils, teachers and parents dealt with the shock of murder

Feb 22 2008 by Laura Sharpe, Liverpool Daily Post

RHYS JONES had left his primary school and was due to start at Fazakerley High, so both schools were affected by his death.

Nick Fleming, headmaster at Fazakerley, said the school had dealt with Rhys’s death with discretion and respect, as his older brother, Owen, is in the sixth form.

Mr Fleming said: “We are in close contact with Rhys’s parents, and Owen has not missed any time off school.

“It was a shock and a tragedy when Rhys died and the whole of the school was naturally anxious.

“As a school, we had to deal with what had happened and Owen’s friends have stood by him and everybody has helped everyone else.

“There was massive press intrusion initially but, as a close school, Rhys’s death united us further.

“Many of our students come from Croxteth Park and so do the staff so everyone was affected and upset.

“We offered counselling and support to the pupils but the pupils helped themselves and even now if a pupil wants to talk about Rhys in assembly or put up his picture, they check with us so they don’t offend Owen.

“The ethos of the school is mutual respect and we’ve tried to respect Rhys’s family and maintain regular school life.

“We held a red and blue day in memory of Rhys, where pupils could wear their football strip and we raised £1,200, which has been sent to Alder Hey Accident and Emergency as Rhys’s family wanted.”

For the younger children at Broad Square Community Primary School, Rhys’s death brought home the reality of gun crime.

Headteacher Mrs Elaine Spencer said: “I can’t believe it has been six months, it was such a shock.

“The news filtered through fairly fast that something had happened but I never thought it would be one of our former pupils.

“Although Rhys had left the school, he had been in a mixed class so knew younger pupils who were very upset by his death.

“It was strange because the school was closed when Rhys died so it was only a week later we all came together.

“We held a minute’s applause in his memory but we felt helpless and wanted to do something.

“Rhys was a big football fan and was always running around being active so a few months later when we built a new playground it seemed appropriate to be named in his memory.

“With the parents, the initial reaction was to keep their children safe at home and not let them go out or go near the shops on Fir Tree Road North.

“But I’m a parent myself and you realise you can’t do that, so we tried to educate the children about gun crime, alcohol and other issues.

“Working with the police and fire brigade they came into school and talked about how to be safe and manage situations.

“What happened to Rhys was an isolated incident but we wanted our children to be aware and feel safe out and about.

“The police explained about carrying weapons and they also talked on issues of youth nuisance about hanging around on street corners in groups.

“They explained it isn’t glamorous and a few of the children who thought that was cool have changed their minds.”