Soham murders: Life goes on, says girls' head teacher

The head teacher of St Andrew's Primary School in Soham has pleaded for his school to be allowed to return to "business as usual".

In a moving statement released today, Geoff Fisher said the community had to work to "rebuild our lives" in the wake of the murders of former pupils Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman.

"Term starts again in two weeks' time and we are anxious that it should be business as usual as far as possible," he said. "There will be a thoughtful, reflective atmosphere in the school, but also a sense of moving on, of looking forward to the future and the challenges ahead.

"This is exactly what Holly and Jessica were doing themselves last term, and what I know they would be doing it again if they were returning to school in September."

Mr Fisher's statement comes when the community is still in turmoil over the deaths. The entire school grounds has been subjected to police searches in the past weeks. The head teacher said trained counsellors would be on hand for what was expected to be an "extremely difficult time for everyone connected with the school".

Mr Fisher said he had recently spent time at the school, making preparations for the new school year and he was "constantly reminded of what a happy place it is".

"The staff, pupils and their families are what makes it such a vibrant, happy place and Holly and Jessica were typical of the sorts of pupils we have here at St Andrews," he said.

"We will remember them as two happy, generous, caring, giving little girls, and those are the memories of them, which we will carry with us throughout the new term and for many years.

"Although Soham will never forget the events of the last three weeks, we must now all pull together and start rebuilding our lives and the lives of those around us," Mr Fisher said.

"That is the sort of community Soham is – a strong, robust, resilient community who share in each other's happiness and support each other in times of distress.

"It is at times like this that they come into their own and this has been demonstrated by the heartfelt grief and sense of working together which we have seen so vividly over the past three weeks."

"It is our role at St Andrew's to make sure . . . [we] celebrate [Holly and Jessica's] lives and achievements in a suitable way. With the continued help and support of this wonderful community of ours, I am confident we can achieve this."