Staff at Nottinghamshire schools offered new training to help grieving pupils

The training by Treetops Hospice can help teachers and school support staff to better understand how 5-to-11-year-olds comprehend death, how to recognise common reactions to a bereavement and how to support children when a loved one dies.

Treetops therapeutic services manager and head of children’s services, Jules Kirk, said: “We know how difficult the last 18 eighteen months has been on the younger generation.

“Being in and out of isolation, not having family and friends around, and being unable to say goodbye at funerals, has all had a detrimental effect on how children and young people have coped after the death of a loved one.

“Schools are seeing these effects in their pupils too and want to do more to help as a front line of support, so we’ve introduced this new training to address this head on.”

All children respond to, and understand death, in their own unique way, Jules explained.

“How a child experiences grief depends on many factors, not just their age,” she said.

“Their reactions can be affected by their cognitive ability, emotional literacy, wider family and social dynamics, and their culture and beliefs.

“In our training, we explain what children believe about death at different ages. Younger children have a limited concept of time, for example, so they often view death as a temporary absence of that loved one. Older children understand that death is irreversible but sometimes believe that the person who died can still see or hear them.

“We’re upskilling staff to recognise these reactions in their pupils and give them the skills and confidence to help children in a safe and appropriate way. We also suggest ways in which the wider school can help such as what policies a school may benefit from.”

The Treetops bereavement training is available to primary schools across Nottinghamshire.

Schools interested in finding out more should contact the Treetops counselling and emotional support team on 0115 949 6944 or email [email protected].

Further information can also be found at www.treetops.org.uk.