Primary schools

Information for teachers, teaching assistants, learning support assistants, headteachers, education welfare officers and other adults working in schools

Children mature at different rates and their understanding and responses to bereavement are likely to be based as much on their experience of life as on their chronological age.

It is important to remember that children will be grieving for life and the loss will always be with them. Children may need to look again at the details surrounding the death of an important person in their lives as they grow older. Feelings they had when young will be different several years further on as their understanding matures and the meaning of the death changes as they move through life. This is not unresolved grief but the experience of different feelings later in life, often connected to major life events such as switching classes, moving up to senior school or other significant change.

People are often at a loss as to know what to say or do to help a child who has been bereaved by the death of someone important to them. Every situation is different, and children will be affected to a greater or lesser degree, dependent on the circumstances of the death and the nature of the relationship they had with the person who has died.

Most grieving children do not need a ‘bereavement expert’ they need people who care. Schools, just by carrying on with their usual day-to-day activities while being aware of the bereavement, can do a huge amount to support a grieving pupil.

Supporting a bereaved pupil in a primary school

Bereaved children in primary school need the stability of a familiar routine with caring adults. Read more

Support for the family

Information for a bereaved family with a child in primary school. Read more

Support for yourself

Being alongside anyone experiencing a loss can be emotionally draining, but supporting a bereaved child, particularly so. The need for support yourself is not a sign of an inability to cope or of professional incompetence, but a recognition that everyone needs help to carry out this demanding role. Read more

Developing a bereavement policy or charter

A school with a bereavement policy is prepared and has plans in place to deal with death, grief and bereavement. This applies to supporting a bereaved pupil or member of staff as well as reacting to a critical incident or tragedy, such as the death of someone within the school community. Read more

Managing bereavement: A guide for schools

A free to download resource offering guidance, support and information when a death occurs in the school community or when a school is facing an expected death. Read more

Books and resources

Books can be used to introduce death and grief to children; they can also be used to help bereaved children to feel less alone and make sense of confusing and sad emotions. Read more

Latest

Bereavement by Suicide: Supporting Children, Young People and Families

Bereavement awareness training for doctors

Doctors face a number of stresses in their work which can affect their mental health. In recognition of the need to promote resilience and wellbeing among doctors, Child Bereavement UK has partnered with the BMA to develop and deliver a series of monthly webinars.

Bereavement awareness training for teachers and education professionals in Greater Manchester

Child Bereavement UK is currently funded to offer free bereavement awareness training webinars for teachers and other education professionals in Greater Manchester.

“We talked a lot about their mother but there were lots of sleepless nights and tears, which had to be dealt with.”

Eamonn talks about parenting his grieving children after their mother died and the importance of good communication.

Supporting bereaved children and young people

Children and young people grieve just as much as adults but they show it in different ways. Find out how you can help them and more about child grieving.

Genevieve

Telling a child that someone has died

It is important to tell a child of any age when someone important in their lives has died, and ideally this is done by someone who is closest to them.

Supporting a bereaved pupil

This comprehensive, free-to-access resource , Supporting a bereaved pupil has been developed by Child Bereavement UK in collaboration with the London Grid for Learning.

What we offer

Child Bereavement UK provides a wide range of training, consultancy and support services to help professionals help bereaved children and families

When your baby dies

When a baby lives only a short time or dies before birth due to miscarriage, stillbirth or a painful decision to end the pregnancy, people may assume that the loss is not important. This is simply not the case.

UK death & bereavement statistics

A parent of children under 18 dies every 22 minutes in the UK; around 23,600 a year. This equates to around 111 children being bereaved of a parent every day.

Claudia Winkleman becomes Patron of Child Bereavement UK

Claudia Winkleman has become a Patron of Child Bereavement UK, a charity which supports families and educates professionals both when a baby or child of any age dies or is dying, and when a child is facing bereavement.

Grieving for a child of any age

The agony of losing a child of any age is unparalleled. There is no age or point in time that makes it any easier. No parent expects to face the death of their child and no grandparent expects to lose their grandchild.

Coronavirus – supporting bereaved children

Frightening events widely reported in the media, such as the coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic, can cause children to worry about themselves and others.