Supporting pupil mental health: Bereavement : My College

This bitesize CPD collection is part of a series of online micro learning units for teachers and school leaders on supporting pupil mental health and wellbeing in practice. The units offer insights into best practice in supporting children and young people, building on the latest evidence base. They are designed to develop knowledge around a range of topics that now form part of the statutory Relationship, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) curriculum, supporting teachers to consider how they might most effectively deliver these topics as part of the curriculum. Specifically, topics covered include:

These online micro learning units incorporate a range of content types to support professional learning and reflective practice, including:

Recordings from ‘Pedagogy in practice’ – a webinar series developed in partnership with The Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health (ACAMH) with a focus on how to teach key topics aligned with the RSHE curriculum
Access to a Padlet with ideas and resources shared by teachers
Case studies from practising teachers and school leaders and research reviews summarising the latest evidence base
Reflective questions to support learning and reading lists signposting further sources and support.

This online learning is being supported by the Bupa Foundation and the Association of Child and Adolescent Mental Health (ACAMH).

Webinar

This webinar included presentations by Bhavina Sachania (Learning Mentor, Pinner Park Primary School) and Beth Khan MCCT (Teacher of English, Invictus Education Trust), followed by a panel discussion with Jan Forshaw (Head of Education, Coram Life Education) and Bethan Miller (Subject Specialist, PSHE Association). Further details can be found on the event page.

Padlet

The Padlet below was used during the webinar to share ideas and resources:

Case studies and further webinars

The first article included here reflects on an approach to supporting children’s emotional heath and resilience following the partial school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic. The second case study outlines the development of a whole-school approach to supporting pupils and staff with bereavement.

The webinar on supporting bereaved children includes a presentation and Q&A with Suzannah Phillips, Associate Director of Winston’s Wish, the UK’s first childhood bereavement charity. Further webinars developed during the COVID-19 pandemic discuss how to support grieving children. In ‘Considerations for pupils with additional needs as we navigate COVID-19′, Vijita Patel, Principal of Swiss Cottage School, discusses how to support pupils with additional needs during school closures, including with potential bereavements within families, as well as interactions with a sense of grief within communities.

Reflection on one school’s approach to Carpenter and Carpenter’s Recovery Curriculum

Supporting pupil mental health around bereavement and loss

Webinar: Supporting bereaved children

Considerations for pupils with additional needs as we navigate COVID-19

Research summary

This summary article discusses research on emotional support for children following a family member’s death.

How to support grieving children in your classroom

Reflective questions

Having watched the ‘pedagogy in practice’ webinar and engaged with the other resources included here, consider the following questions:

What tools do you currently use to support children and young people to understand bereavement?
To what extent do you currently provide a trauma-informed approach with your students?
What new strategies to support a trauma-informed approach to bereavement might you begin to apply in your context?
What strategies do you currently use to engage parents in supporting children and young people with bereavement?

Support and advice: Pupil mental health

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