Bereavement and Loss
Supporting loss and change
Children experiencing loss and change, may grieve as much as adults, though they are likely to show this in different ways. Children often require support from adults around them to express their grief in a developmentally appropriate way. Sometimes as adults we also need support with our grief and in understanding how to support children and young people.
To support schools in times of loss and change, Aberdeen City Council Educational Psychology Service have developed School Bereavement and Critical Incident Guidelines for staff teams to use when managing a sudden bereavement or other critical incident. Staff can access these here.
We also have leaflets for children and young people, parent and carers and school staff, which are shown below :
Bereavement Info Children Young People.pdfInformation for Children and Young People
Bereavement Info Parents_carers.pdfInformation for Parents and Carers
Critical Incidents and Sudden Bereavement - Staff Info.pdfInformation for School Staff
Covid-19 Bereavement Supports
Winston’s Wish have created specific guidance around how to tell a young person that someone has died from Covid-19. They also have specific advice for supporting children and young people when it is not possible for them to attend a funeral due to the current situation and general advice around bereavement support related to Covid-19:
As well as talking with children and young people openly about their loss, there are lots of activities you can do together to help them understand their feelings or to remember the person who has died. Ideas such as looking at photos, making a memory box, writing in a journal or making a scrapbook can be a good way for children to work through their feelings. Youth Light Inc. have collated some ideas.