Every school in Northern Ireland should have a bereavement policy in place, a leading charity has said as it launches a major report on helping pupils deal with grief.
With statistics showing most young people will experience a bereavement before they leave school, leading end-of-life charity Marie Curie is calling for a “culture and practice of grief education and bereavement support” to be put in place in educational settings across the north.
The charity on Wednesday publishes the findings of a three-year Schools Bereavement Programme with the key findings including the need for more training for teachers so they can feel more confident and competent when supporting bereaved pupils.
Its five recommendations aim to support every school in becoming a “compassionate community, supporting children and young people to be better prepared for bereavement, to feel safe and able to learn and develop while they grow around their grief”.
These include requiring every school to have a bereavement policy, strengthening the Department of Education-led policy guidance on grief education and bereavement support and giving all teaching staff opportunities to receive bereavement training.
It is also recommended changes to the education curriculum are made to offer more opportunities for pupils to discuss bereavement and grief.
The report will be launched on Wednesday at an event in Belfast, bringing together officials from Marie Curie, experts including Dr Patricia Donnelly, chair of the Northern Ireland Bereavement Network and Mental Health Champion, Professor Siobhán O’Neill as well as education representatives and young people.
Emma Papaconstantinou (15), who lost her brother to leukaemia when she was four, will be part of a discussion panel at the event.
“We may grieve differently to adults, or even to each other, but we need support from the place where we spend the majority of our time, the place that has a duty to look after our wellbeing and as part of this we need to be taught about our grief so we can understand it,” she said.
“As part of my school experience, I vividly remember the panic that would wash over me when we were made to say how many siblings we had in French or every icebreaker activity that involved family trees.
“I would think… “what on earth do I say?”
“If talking about grief and loved ones that have died was normalised, the fear of saying we are bereaved wouldn’t be a problem.
“I think the best way to do this is by educating our young people on death and grief.”
Speaking ahead of the launch, Joan McEwan from Marie Curie said the report is a “significant milestone” with today’s event allowing those gathered to “discuss our recommendations for further strengthening grief education and bereavement support in schools”.
“I am confident that in the room today we will have people with the drive, passion, and importantly the mandate needed to make the necessary changes to policy and practice,” she said.
Education minister Paul Givan said the report “highlights how important it is that we support children and young people, that experience loss, through grief education and bereavement support in schools”.
“School staff should continue to use the resources and training opportunities available, to enable them to support children and young people in school,” he said.
