Supporting Bereaved Children and Young People

Every school community will, at some point, support a child or young person experiencing bereavement. Knowing how to respond with confidence, compassion and the right language can make a lasting difference.

As part of Strathcarron Hospice's commitment to supporting local communities, we offer Childhood Bereavement Training for primary and secondary schools across Forth Valley, Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and the surrounding areas.

These practical workshops are designed to help teaching and support staff feel more confident in supporting bereaved children and young people and developing a compassionate, informed response to grief and loss within the school environment. School staff are often well placed to help children understand and cope with feelings of grief, enabling them to navigate difficult life experiences while feeling supported and understood.

The training will help staff to:

• Support bereaved children and young people with confidence and compassion.

• Use appropriate and sensitive language when discussing death, dying and loss.

• Understand how grief may present in children and young people.

• Recognise and manage significant dates and events, such as Mother's Day, Father's Day and anniversaries.

• Contribute to, review or develop a school bereavement policy.

• Create a prepared and supportive response to bereavement within the school community.

Who can attend?

The training is open to all school staff, including teaching, support, pastoral care and leadership staff.

Training Information

Sessions are 2.5 hours in duration and can be delivered either at your school or at Strathcarron Hospice. They are often incorporated into in-service days and staff development events, making them easy to include within existing professional learning programmes.

 Explore an example of one of our training days to see how the session is structured here 

Upcoming Training Dates

Primary Schools: 11 November, 3.30pm – 6.00pm Location: Strathcarron Hospice 
Secondary Schools: 18 November, 3.30pm – 6.00pm Location: Strathcarron Hospice 

In addition to these scheduled sessions, further dates can be arranged on request to meet the needs of individual schools.

The cost of the training is £60 per school per session.

For more information or to book a place, please contact the Strathcarron Hospice Education Team via [email protected].