What do London, Ont. students think about commemorating The Queen’s funeral at school?

The Queen lies in state, ahead of her funeral Monday.

It's been declared a federal holiday, but in Ontario will be observed as a day of mourning with a moment of silence to be observed at 1:00 p.m.

The York school board raised eyebrows last week for directing its schools to discourage discussions about the Queen, and requesting school staff to refrain from developing tributes meant to memorialize the Queen.

Education Minister Stephen Lecce then released guidance on how schools should observe the day, and the school board changed its guidance.

In London, Ont., the Thames Valley and London Catholic school boards are following the minister’s guidance, with an optional moment of silence at or around 1 p.m.

The Catholic board sent its principals a letter Friday with more guidance on how to deal with conversations that might arise when speaking of the legacy of the Queen.

“Yeah well, that's a difficult thing. I feel like it should be optional if you want to do the moment of silence or not,” says Amy, a high school student.

Jayden adds, “I feel like there definitely should be a moment of silence just because the Queen was there for so long, you know?”

“I think that we should respect her as a person but we shouldn't necessarily like respect her legacy because of what she did to certain countries and stuff,” Wazhma counters, while Kylee hopes personal choice would be respected.

“Everyone has their own thoughts and are welcome to their own opinions,” she says. "Everyone should have their own choice and shouldn't be judged for their choice.”

Adam wonders about the purpose of the ceremony, but believes it’s the right thing to do.

“We should have a moment of silence just for respect but you know, right now, we're kinda independent, as let's just say...I don't see a whole point of it, but just a moment of silence just for respect,” says Adam.

Schools have been asked to include in Monday’s activities learning about the many contributions the Queen made to our province, country and Commonwealth, and the accession of King Charles III to the British throne.