Abstract

Children experiencing bereavement are often confused, unprepared, and in need of help and support from those around them. It is important that school teachers and staff know how to respond to bereavement and how they can best help the child.

This short, easy to read book offers simple but important advice and guidance for school teachers and staff on what to do when a child is grieving. It includes advice on explaining death to children, insights into how children may be feeling and how they may react, and ways in which they can be supported. The book also covers how bereavement can affect a child and how it can affect the whole school in the case of a death of a pupil or staff member. It also stresses the importance of teaching the facts of death to children and includes ideas on how to incorporate this into lessons.

This book is ideal for all staff in a school setting who are in need of easily digestible and practical guidance on how to support children after bereavement.

Schools which buy this book, will obtain practical information and guidance about supporting children through the painful experience of death and bereavement. The book provides comprehensive information about death and bereavement and sets out how and why schools have an important role in supporting children at this time... the book will be invaluable in a school's planning of bereavement and loss policies; It would inform the content of an emotional health and well-being curriculum; and it also suggests how these sad events can be turned into a positive learning experience.
Grampian Child Bereavement Network
The book is very short and is written in an accessible style which should make it easier for busy teachers to find the time for additional reading. The use of case studies throughout the book helps to illustrate and personalise the topics discussed.
Bereavement Care
Ann Chadwick’s very readable and humane book for schools contains gems of wisdom from her wide experience of supporting bereaved children, with her advice presented in an accessible way for the non-specialist in the potentially problematic area of death.
John Holland, educational psychologist and co-author of Lost for Words: Loss and Bereavement Awareness Training
This slim volume is a really worthwhile read for anyone... this book... is a very, very worthwhile one to read for anyone who has dealings with junior school children.
The Good Bookstall
Ann Chadwick is a retired qualified social worker and senior lecturer in social work. She has written bereavement materials and led workshops throughout the UK for bereavement counselling agencies.
This is a short but significant book. It allows the individual to think about their own experiences of loss over their lives and how they managed each situation and how they were supported in each one. I actually enjoyed reading it. As in all JKP books there is a comprehensive list of additional relevant publications and help organisations.
Chidlren's Webmag