By Lucy Carroll and Angus Thomson
The head of St Andrew’s Cathedral School has addressed hundreds of senior school students at a special assembly on Monday morning, thanking them for their support as they grieve the death of staff member Lilie James.
“If I could, I would brief you one at a time, I would say your name and sit with you in the ashes of what has happened. But I know I can’t right now. So, here we are,” the school’s head Dr Julie McGonigle told about 800 students gathered at St Andrew’s Cathedral.
Flower tributes outside St Andrew’s Cathedral School on Monday.Credit: Flavio Brancaleone
“And now we are left with grief, shock, and utter confusion – because both parties were known to our school. Our beautiful Ms James, a ray of light and Mr Thijssen, whose actions are completely incongruent with who we knew.”
McGonigle’s comments to year 7 to 11 students came as pupils returned to school for the first time since police found James’ body with brutal head injuries in a gymnasium bathroom at the school last Wednesday.
Mourners placed flowers outside St Andrew’s on Monday morning as students returned to the CBD campus after it was closed to students on Thursday and Friday when a crime scene was established, although some senior school exams continued.
A police search for her suspected killer, fellow sports coach Paul Thijssen, was called off after a body was recovered off a cliff in Sydney’s east on Friday.
Teachers welcomed students in their classrooms and were provided with scripted support material “to ensure consistent language across home and school”.
The school said it had received hundreds of emails offering support, including from dozens of other schools offering extra counsellors and psychologists.
“Firstly, let me say thank you, because the love, support and kindness that you and your parents have shown to our staff body and to each other over the last four days have been extraordinary,” McGonigle said.
“The tight-knit, deeply loving and faith-filled nature of our community is what will get us through this, and you have demonstrated that in its fullness over these last days.
A flower tribute outside St Andrew’s Cathedral School in memory of Lilie James on Monday.Credit: Flavio Brancaleone
“I also want to say that some of what I share in this briefing will be difficult to hear. However, I want to treat you with the utmost respect, you are not children, you are young adults and I want you to hear the truth about what happened from me.
“You are not alone in this. We are a strong and courageous community. Together, each day, we can face our fears and take a step forward.”
McGonigle addressed students and led a prayer service, as staff and teachers sought to “resume as normal as much as possible” after the tragedy. “We have been advised by expert psychologists that resuming your normal routines is extremely important. However, to do so will require courage from each of us,” she told students.
The address followed an interview that James’ grandmother, Barbara Adelt, gave to Ben Fordham on 2GB on Monday morning, saying her “bright” and “loyal” 21-year-old granddaughter would have been heartened by the outpouring of community tributes.
“Some people come into this world – I think they’re so special – and they don’t stay long,” Adelt said.
“I’d say to her, ‘Look Lilie, they’re all coming out for you’. She would have loved that.”
Adelt said her granddaughter never stopped learning and doing new things, juggling her studies with working four-and-a-half days a week and coaching swimming and water polo at St Andrew’s.
“She had to give up her ballet lessons, which was a shame, but she couldn’t fit them in,” she said.
Counselling stations have been set up at the school for students showing signs of distress. All sports and music activities have been cancelled and the school’s sports centre and a pedestrian plaza between Town Hall and St Andrew’s Cathedral will remain out of bounds.
James had worked at the school as a water polo coach since February and was in her second year of a sports business degree at UTS.
The UTS Balmain Tigers Water Polo Club, which James had played for this year, held a minute’s silence before its games on Saturday.
James’ activities across the school had been wide-ranging, and she “was adored by all”, McGonigle said in a post on the school’s Facebook page on Friday. “Our first priority is to Lilie’s family and we stand with them in their pain,” she said.
Investigations into James’ death are continuing.
Thijssen, her alleged killer, made his final call to triple zero, alerting police to a body at St Andrew’s, and CCTV footage obtained by Nine News shows Thijssen arriving by car in a street in Vaucluse just before 9pm on Wednesday.
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