resources
We have compiled two sets of resources:
Resources for Teachers - The first is aimed for small group work led by a teacher or teaching assistant for an offer of extra time, space and support for a bereaved child or children.
Resources for Schools - The second set of resources are for all members of staff to gain a broader understanding of supporting bereaved children in schools, especially in those days of early bereavement.
RESOurces FOR TEACHERS
The following books are suitable for use in assemblies, classes, small groups, one-to-one support, and for recommending to families. Each book can be purchased and either given to or read with the child. In addition, we have developed guided activity plans for each book to provide ongoing support for bereaved children - going beyond proactive planning and reactive care (for further guidance on this, please refer to my blog, Compassionate Education: How Schools Can Support Bereaved Children in the blog section).
Our guided activities use each book as inspiration for both conversation and craft. We provide advice on how to use each book with bereaved children, including key questions to ask, support notes, and ways to close each session, ensuring that children feel supported, reassured, and comfortable enough to return to their school day. All of the books address themes of love, loss, death, and grieving. Depending on the book, our activities expand on these themes to explore memories, connections and attachment, feelings, coping strategies, and change.
Best practice involves creating a safe and supportive space for discussing death and grief - ideally a calm, uninterrupted environment outside the usual classroom setting. A Nurture Room or Reflective Space is perfect as it is an established calm and safe space within a busy school. Consider the arrangement of seats to best suit the activity you have planned and don’t be afraid to change it with the children for different parts of the session - physical movement often energises focus and concentration, and can relieve tension if you have discussed a particularly challenging emotion or experience (think about how children often ‘puddle jump’ in and out of dealing with big emotions). The session should be led by a trusted adult who has an established positive relationship with the children. Each session should encourage the use of compassionate language, offer non-judgmental support, and allow children to express their thoughts and feelings openly, without fear of being judged or misunderstood. Consider setting these ground rules and expectations at the beginning of each session, ensuring children know they can choose to contribute as much or as little as they feel comfortable with.
Supporting a bereaved child can be hard. It is important for your own mental health and for your ongoing development as an educational practitioner to take time to reflect on the session you’ve just delivered. On your own, or in conversation with a colleague, consider the following questions: What worked well and why? What questions or discussion was I surprised by? What will I do differently next time?
THE INVISIBLE STRING
Parents, educators, therapists, and social workers alike have declared The Invisible String the perfect tool for coping with all kinds of separation anxiety, loss, and grief. In this relatable and reassuring contemporary classic, a mother tells her two children that they're all connected by an invisible string.
Age Range - all primary school ages
Emma Says - This is a wonderful book to use with children, as it celebrates the ongoing connection we have with the people we care about, even when they’re not physically with us. The book includes the idea of a connection that continues after someone has died, making it an important resource for bereaved children. I enjoyed sharing this book with my children because it not only helped us talk about our ‘invisible string’ to their daddy, but also about the important people who continue to support us. We also loved finding the hidden hearts in each illustration, which made the experience feel truly interactive.
Michael Rosen’s Sad Book
Very occasionally the term non-fiction has to stretch itself to accommodate a book that fits into no category at all. Michael Rosen's Sad Book is such a book. It chronicles Michael's grief at the death of his son Eddie from meningitis at the age of 19. A moving combination of sincerity and simplicity, it acknowledges that sadness is not always avoidable or reasonable and perfects the art of making complicated feelings plain.
Age Range - Upper Key Stage 2
Emma Says - Michael Rosen pours his personal experience of grief into this brilliant book and creates a gift for all children, not just those who are bereaved. But it’s not a comfortable read and children will need supporting if they choose to look at it. Bereaved children though will take encouragement from how Rosen expresses his feelings and how he swings between extreme feelings of sadness and loss to the hilarity of how ridiculous and silly grief can make us behave when we feel so completely overwhelmed by it. My own children laughed out loud when I shared this book with them and it was both the comfort and relief we needed at such an impossibly sad time after their daddy died.
