School sorry for boy's farewell letter

A Staffordshire school has apologised after asking a pupil to pretend he was dying and write a farewell letter to his mother.

Wesley Walker, 14, was told to write to his mother as if he had a terminal illness and only had a few hours to live, reports the BBC.

But when he handed the note to his mother Vicki, she believed it was a suicide letter and thought her son was going to hang himself.

The letter said: "I am writing this letter to say goodbye and thank you for giving me life and don't cry I don't want you to be sad I want you to remember the fun times and the happy times."

Wesley added: "I know I have been a pain at the best of times but I am with nan and grandad now."

He also asked his mother to give his Xbox console and games to his father, leaving her everything else.

"He handed it to me one evening and then just went upstairs to bed," said Mrs Walker.

"I really felt like I was going to find him hanging from his bed and maybe he felt he couldn't take any more."

Wesley said he thought the exercise was "normal" for a creative writing lesson at the Discovery Academy in Staffordshire.

A spokesperson said the exercise was part of an "expressive art" lesson and pupils were asked to say a "special thank you".

Headteacher Rob Ridout said: "It was never the intention of the exercise to cause distress, in fact it was the total opposite of that. We apologise for what happened."