Talking About Death and Bereavement in School: How to Help Children Aged 4 to 11 to Feel Supported and Understood

Children experiencing bereavement are often confused, unprepared, and in need of help and support from those around them. It is important that school teachers and staff know how to respond to bereavement and how they can best help the child. This short, easy to read book offers simple but important advice and guidance for school teachers and staff on what to do when a child is grieving. It includes advice on explaining death to children, insights into how children may be feeling and how they may react, and ways in which they can be supported. The book also covers how bereavement can affect a child and how it can affect the whole school in the case of a death of a pupil or staff member. It also stresses the importance of teaching the facts of death to children and includes ideas on how to incorporate this into lessons. This book is ideal for all staff in a school setting who are in need of easily digestible and practical guidance on how to support children after bereavement.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgements. 1. Society's Attitude to Death. 2. Teaching Opportunities. 3. Heaven or…? Belief Systems. 4. Concepts of Death. 5. Effects on the School. 6. Death of a Staff Member. 7. Death of a Pupil. 8. Multiple Losses in the School. 9. How the School Responds. 10. Case Study. 11. Explaining the Reality. 12. The Effects of Bereavement on Learning. 13. Social Effects. 14. Spiritual and Cultural Issues. 15. Summary. Useful Resources

About the Author :
Ann Chadwick is a retired qualified social worker and senior lecturer in social work. She has written bereavement materials and led workshops throughout the UK for bereavement counselling agencies.

Review :
The book is very short and is written in an accessible style which should make it easier for busy teachers to find the time for additional reading. The use of case studies throughout the book helps to illustrate and personalise the topics discussed. Schools which buy this book, will obtain practical information and guidance about supporting children through the painful experience of death and bereavement. The book provides comprehensive information about death and bereavement and sets out how and why schools have an important role in supporting children at this time... the book will be invaluable in a school's planning of bereavement and loss policies; It would inform the content of an emotional health and well-being curriculum; and it also suggests how these sad events can be turned into a positive learning experience. This is a short but significant book. It allows the individual to think about their own experiences of loss over their lives and how they managed each situation and how they were supported in each one. I actually enjoyed reading it. As in all JKP books there is a comprehensive list of additional relevant publications and help organisations. This slim volume is a really worthwhile read for anyone... this book... is a very, very worthwhile one to read for anyone who has dealings with junior school children. Ann Chadwick’s very readable and humane book for schools contains gems of wisdom from her wide experience of supporting bereaved children, with her advice presented in an accessible way for the non-specialist in the potentially problematic area of death. Chadwick addresses the challenges of talking about death and bereavement with children, offering clear, practical suggestions and encouraging school staff to have the courage to be 'brave' and to 'break new ground' in tackling this topic and so prepare their children for the reality of life and death from an early age. In so doing, she notes that it is often important at the outset to correct children's existing misconceptions of death which can often lead to fears and anxieties. The book includes useful sections on the death of a staff member or pupil as well as multiple losses, and considers the emotional, educational and behavioural impact of bereavement using a case study of a young boy whose mother has died... The book provides welcome encouragement for school staff to provide clear, age-appropriate explanations to children and to allow open and honest discussion on this important topic.