Bolton primary school gets letter from Luxembourg PM

Bolton Parish Church Primary School headteacher Angela Worthington said children had asked her if they could do anything to help the situation in Israel during the autumn term.

Pupils then decided to write letters to leaders across the world, calling on them to be proactive in ‘looking for peaceful solutions and challenging those who do not’.

The children also wrote prayers for peace, and held a cake sale for the Christian Aid Middle East Crisis Appeal.

Children wrote at the bottom of each letter sent out (Image: Bolton Parish Church Primary School)

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The letters were sent from the Chadwick Street school to 42 prime ministers and presidents across the globe starting in December, and more than 240 cakes were sold at the school’s bake sale.

So far, replies have been received from the UK, Ireland, Canada, Germany, and Luxembourg.

Just this week, the school received another from Latvia.

The letter from the Luxembourg PM Luc Frieden (Image: Bolton Parish Church Primary School)

Headteacher Angela said the children were ‘absolutely thrilled’ to receive the responses.

She said: “We’ve read them out in assembly, we’ve shared their responses with parents, and we’ve put things on our Facebook page as well to share how we’ve got letters back from Prime Ministers from around the world.

“I doubt many primary schools have got letters from Prime Ministers from around the world like we have.

“They are really, really proud of themselves and proud of school, and proud of the fact that other people in other countries have bothered to write back to us.”

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While most replies have been written by a member of the leader’s staff, Luxembourg PM Luc Friedon praised pupils for their ‘outstanding efforts’ and ‘excellent work’ in a response signed by himself.

He wrote: "I would like to express my gratitude for your letter. It brings me great joy to see that even at your age, you are already demonstrating commitment and interest in the state of the world. It’s inspiring to witness your proactive efforts to address the challenges that we, as a global community, are facing.

"Taking the initiative to reach out to world leaders, urging them for peace, serves as a poignant reminder that you represent the upcoming generation entrusted with the future of our world.

"As Prime Minister of the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg, I would like to assure you that I will do everything in my power to make the world a better place. In light of the growing tensions on a global scale, Luxembourg, as a founding member of the European Union, NATO, and the United Nations, will commit to close collaboration with its allies to contribute to international peace and stability.

"I hope that my letter will encourage you to continue your outstanding efforts. Keep up the excellent work!"

Angela added: “What we try to teach here is that we’ve got endless possibilities and we don’t know what we’re going to be.

“I talk about all the time about how the MP for Bolton would have been sat on a hall floor in a Bolton primary school being taught, just like they are. There’s no reason why, when they get older, they can’t be one of these leaders – they can’t be an MP, a Prime Minister.

“It’s about showing children that they can be anything when they grow up, and therefore it’s really important to start engaging now in world issues, because they’ll be more interested in having a role as they get older.”

If you have a story, I cover the whole borough of Bolton. Please get in touch at jack.fifield@newsquest.co.uk.