It is with great sadness that we write to inform you that Mrs Murray, a much respected and loved member of Elmhurst’s staff, has passed away.

Sarah will be known and fondly remembered by many children and families over many years.

Sarah started at Elmhurst many moons ago and, during that time had various roles: learning support assistant, librarian, resources manager, chicken wrangler, artist and display designer to name but a few. She was passionate about Elmhurst and would always throw herself into school events or be involved in some creative project or other which would enhance not just learning but the Elmhurst environment as well. There are memories of Sarah everywhere you go in the school – the entrance display, the learning behaviour animals, the library, the story bags; everywhere we look, we will always see Sarah.

The death of someone close, a family member or a friend, can always be hard for children to come to terms with.

If we were in school, there would be many things that we could do to help deliver this news to the children. We would hold an assembly, we would talk to them about it in class, we would write a letter home to prepare you so that you could be there for your child at the end of the day to give them a hug.

The circumstances of the pandemic do not allow for these things to happen though so we are needing you to explain this to your child. You know your child best and the best way to approach this. Please do reach out to us, though, if you need support with this.

As a school and a community, our thoughts are with Fran and Rachel, Sarah’s daughters, at this time.

Tracy and Mike, and all at Elmhurst