London praise
Relief as Calderglen High girls home safe
A busload of East Kilbride schoolgirls on a class trip to London returned home safe and sound after a terror attack hit the city.
The group were leaving a West End show when terrorists struck at London Bridge on Saturday night.
Calderglen High's response has been praised by parents.
A busload of East Kilbride schoolgirls on a class trip to London returned home safe and sound after a terror attack hit the city.
Twenty-five Calderglen High pupils were in the nation’s capital for a Disney dance workshop over the weekend – and were leaving the West End show Wicked on Saturday night when three terrorists launched an attack on London Bridge and Borough Market, killing seven people and injuring at least 48 others.
The News understands the pupils, aged between 14 and 18, and teachers from the PE department had left the Apollo Victoria Theatre in Central London and were a couple of miles from London Bridge at the point of attack.
The group were rushed back to their hotel as soon as staff received news of the atrocity and their anxious parents were called.
Parents praised the school for its “excellent communication” throughout the ordeal.
And Calderglen High head teacher Liz White yesterday paid tribute to the “professional” actions of her staff and also the “mature attitudes” of her pupils.
Three jihadis wearing fake suicide vests stormed London Bridge and ploughed into pedestrians in a van at up to 50mph.
They then leapt from the vehicle and began stabbing people in nearby restaurants and bars in the busy Borough Market area.
Armed police arrived on the scene and shot the attackers dead within eight minutes.
The attackers have been named as Khuram Butt, Rachid Radouane and Youssef Zaghba.
The London Underground was closed while the Metropolitan Police dealt with the terrifying incidents in the Vauxhall area of the city.
All the girls are safe and well but were said to be left shaken by the incident.
Teachers tweeted regular updates throughout the night into Sunday morning to keep worried parents informed of their movements.
One tweet read: “We are all ok!! Almost back at hotel!”
A worried parent replied: “Relieved to hear. Stay safe.”
One fellow pupil shared his disbelief over the situation, tweeting: “School takes the girls away to London for a dance trip to shop etc and this happens...world is a horrendous place.”
Another parent posted: “A huge heartfelt thanks to the teachers of the London dance trip.
“Going way above the call of duty keeping our kids safe.”
Calderglen head teacher Ms White told the News yesterday: “As soon as staff were alerted to a situation in Central London, they got pupils back to their hotel as quickly and as calmly as possible.
“Immediately staff ensured communication with all parents to let them know pupils were safe and kept me and the parents updated fully throughout the night and on their return journey.
“I texted or spoke to every parent with children on the trip early on Sunday morning to further reassure them that staff were managing the situation and all pupils were well.
“On Sunday, plans were changed to ensure that pupils would not be in Central London and we made changes to the travel arrangements so that they didn’t need to use public transport at all.
“The group arrived back in Glasgow at 8pm on Sunday evening as expected and all pupils and staff returned to school on Monday as was planned.
“I can’t thank the staff enough for the professional way they handled this unexpected situation and to the pupils for their mature attitudes throughout.
“Our thoughts are with everyone who was affected by this horrific incident.”
Calderglen High also retweeted advice from BBC Newsround to share with young people upset and struggling to understand the news about what happened at London Bridge at the weekend.