A secondary school in Essex has been forced to justify a recent assignment which was set for students aged between 13 and 14-years-old following a barrage of criticism from parents and pupils.

Pupils at Beauchamps High School, who had been studying J.B. Priestley play, An Inspector Calls, were required to write their own suicide notes as an exercise in 'empathy' and 'responsibility'.

Aghast by the nature of the English exercise, pupils and their families expressed their concern at the assigned task, with many dubbing it 'wrong'.

While acknowledging that the tragic notes were to be written from the perspective of fictional character, Eva, many students and their families insisted that the exercise made them feel 'uncomfortable'.

Speaking to The Mirror, the older sister of one of the school's students expressed her distaste for the nature of the assignment, saying: "Personally, I think this is so wrong and feel really uncomfortable knowing they think this is normal."

Wholeheartedly defending the set task, head teacher, Bob Hodges, explained the context of the assignment, saying:  "The book is about the death of a girl and the themes being studied are about responsibility and the roles of characters."

"One of the year groups were asked to write Eva’s last diary entry explaining her thought and feelings," he continued.

Insisting that the assignment was purely an exercise in 'expressive' and 'analytical' writing, Mr. Hodges told the Brentwood Gazette that it had been part of the syllabus for many years and the text has been set by the exam board for English.

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