Staff and students at Herne Hill’s Judith Kerr Primary School have paid tribute to their patron and namesake, the much-loved children’s author who died last month.
Judith Kerr died on May 22, aged 95. Famous for The Tiger Who Came To Tea, and her Mog series about a family cat who gets into all kinds of scrapes, Kerr first came to London as a refugee, when her Jewish family escaped Nazi Germany.
She was the patron of the bilingual primary school on Half Moon Lane, which opened in 2013, teaching in both English and German.
In memory of the writer, who had visited the school many times, the school held a special end of term assembly and read ‘Goodbye Mog’ to its pupils.
The school tweeted: “Judith’s warm and open outlook on life has become a central part of the school’s own personality.
“We’ll long remember and celebrate a wonderful friend.”
We are devastated to read of the passing today of our patron, #JudithKerr. A wonderful writer and illustrator, and a fantastically generous, enthusiastic friend of our school community. Such a privilege over the last 6 years to have been able to welcome Judith to JKPS. pic.twitter.com/ikiI8MqOYf
— Judith Kerr Primary (@JudithKerrPS) May 23, 2019
Local MP Helen Hayes also praised Kerr and the values in her books as she shared a picture of meeting Kerr two days after the murder of her parliamentary colleague, Jo Cox.
“The message of hope, humanity and kindness in her wonderful books will live on,” she said.