Marie Curie report to help teachers better support bereaved children

A leading charity will today outline a series of recommendations aimed at helping teachers help bereaved children.

Marie Curie says its report is designed to “embed a culture and practice of grief education and bereavement support in educational settings in Northern Ireland”.

The ‘end of life’ charity says statistics show that most young people will experience a bereavement before they leave school, but that teachers want more guidance on how to deal with and support grieving pupils.

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The report consolidates the findings of a three-year Schools Bereavement Programme in support of bereaved children and young people in schools and colleges and will be launched at an event today (Wednesday) at Belfast’s Riddel Hall. Experts including Dr Patricia Donnelly OBE, Chair of the Northern Ireland Bereavement Network, Mental Health Champion, Professor Siobhán O’Neill and representatives from the Department of Education as well as teachers and young people are expected to be at the event.

Speaking in advance of the event, Joan McEwan, Associate Director of Policy and Public Affairs at Marie Curie said: “The Marie Curie Schools Bereavement Programme has provided previously lacking evidence of the views and experiences from children and young people, parents and carers, and teachers. The wider education and public health sectors have also fed in views.

“The launch of the final report is a significant milestone on the journey and today’s event has allowed us to not only present the findings and evidence gathered, and especially the learning from schools, but also to table and discuss our recommendations for further strengthening grief education and bereavement support in schools. I am confident that in the room today we will have people with the drive, passion, and importantly the mandate needed to make the necessary changes to policy and practice.”

Some of the key findings outlined in the report are that “every child’s bereavement experience is unique and that this should be respected, with support offered and tailored to individual need”.

It adds: “Teachers are asking for information and guidance so they can feel more confident and competent when supporting their pupils. Parents and carers generally support educational settings doing more but stress the need for teacher training and preparation and children and young people also want to be informed about, and involved, in developing the bereavement information and support available to them in school.”

Also expected to be at the report launch is 15-year-old Emma Papaconstantinou, who lost her brother Georgie to leukaemia when she was only four-years-old. She will be part of a discussion panel at the event.

Speaking ahead of the launch, she said: “Children and young people grieve. We may grieve differently to adults, or even to each other, but we need support from the place where we spend the majority of our time, the place that has a duty to look after our wellbeing and as part of this we need to be taught about our grief so we can understand it.

“As part of my school experience, I vividly remember the panic that would wash over me when we were made to say how many siblings we had in French or every icebreaker activity that involved family trees. I would think… ‘what on earth do I say?’

“If talking about grief and loved ones that have died was normalised, the fear of saying we are bereaved wouldn’t be a problem. I think the best way to do this is by educating our young people on death and grief.”

The report’s five main recommendations “aim to support every school in becoming a compassionate community, supporting children and young people to be better prepared for bereavement, to feel safe and able to learn and develop while they grow around their grief”.

They are:

1. Strengthen Department of Education led policy guidance on grief education and bereavement support.

2. Require every school to have a bereavement policy.

3. Give all teaching staff a range of opportunities to receive bereavement training.

4. Ensure the education curriculum offers a range of opportunities for pupils to discuss bereavement and grief.

5. The Health and Education sectors should identify all opportunities for collaboration to better support bereaved young people

Education Minister Paul Givan said: “The Bereavement Support in Schools report provides valuable insight and evidence on attitudes towards grief. It highlights how important it is that we support children and young people, that experience loss, through grief education and bereavement support in schools.

“School staff should continue to use the resources and training opportunities available, to enable them to support children and young people in school. The role of school leaders is vitally important in having the policies and programmes in place to support

a wider whole school approach to emotional health and wellbeing.”

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