Bereavement training for professionals
Specialist training to help teachers, social workers and other professionals better support bereaved children, young people and their families.
Childhood bereavement training courses
Winston’s Wish runs three-day bereavement training courses to teach professionals, including teachers, social workers and medical professionals, how to better support grieving children and young people. Due to COVID-19 restrictions we are currently running these training courses online via Zoom. Booking is open for courses in September, October and November 2020.
We also have free online short training courses for schools offering an introduction to childhood bereavement and ways school staff can help grieving pupils. Click below to find out more.
Who is the training for?
Our bereavement training support is available for anybody looking to improve their knowledge and skills to better support bereaved children and young people. We have found that our training is particularly useful for professionals, including medical professionals, teachers and carers.
Training is delivered in partnership with Giraffe Resilience.
What does the training cover?
Resilience is important for two reasons; it plays a vital role in allowing children to lead full and flourishing lives following a bereavement, and resilience is also important in ensuring that you are well placed to support the children in your care to the best of your ability. These two specialities, together, will equip you to not only fully support the child or children in your care, but also to ensure you look after yourself in the process.
The course is split over three days, each day covering different topics in detail, but each one designed to build on the knowledge gained from the last. You can book onto all three days in the venue that suits you or book individual days.
Day 1
Understanding the needs of bereaved children and young people
On this day you will get an overview of child bereavement and understand the needs of these children, learning how to make it talked about and not hidden. We will cover some issues around how children understand and react to grief at different developmental stages. We will also cover bereavement theory and touch on trauma and some of the other complicating factors. You will learn some self-care techniques to ensure that you are well supported in order to meet the needs of the children in your care.
Day 2
Anticipated loss, culture and trauma
This day takes an in-depth look at supporting a child and their family through a serious illness. We look at how grief can be impacted by other factors, including culture and the cause of death, and offer tools and techniques for each scenario. We look in detail at how trauma and grief differ and the particular support a child with significant trauma needs. We also offer guidance and advice on the correct policies and procedures a school should have in place. The day finishes with a lesson on self-care and building up your tool kit to support yourself.
Day 3
Vulnerability and resilience
On the final day we look at complicating factors and vulnerabilities including complex family structures, children in the care sector and children with special needs and how you can support these individuals and their families. We take an in-depth look at self-care and building resilience. Resilience is the ability to bounce back from adversity, to remain motivated and productive in the face of increasing pressure, uncertainty and stress. This is vital to enable you to continue to support the children and young people in your care.
Other training
Free online bereavement training for schools
Our short free online bereavement training courses will help teachers and school staff to understand how grief affects a child or young person and how you can help them cope with their grief. We have two courses aimed at both primary and secondary schools. The first course is an introduction to childhood bereavement and the second course explains some of the ways you can help grieving children and young people. The courses take around 20 minutes to complete.
Training video on childhood bereavement
Our 30-minute video provides an introduction to childhood bereavement and suggests ways you can support children and young people during COVID-19. It will help you to understand how a child or young person might react when someone in the family is seriously ill – from any condition, not just COVID-19. It will also guide you on how you can support them before and after a death and how the current coronavirus pandemic and lockdown situation can impact on grief.
Bespoke training
Winston’s Wish designs bereavement training programmes to meet the particular needs of your organisation or group and works closely with you to plan this bereavement training. Get in touch with our team to enquire about organising a bespoke training package.
Conferences & seminars
Each year our experienced practitioners participate in many conferences and seminars as guest speakers and workshop leaders. Our presentations are based directly on our practical experience of supporting bereaved children and their families.
Information for professionals
Whether you have received bereavement training or not, our experienced Helpline team can offer specific advice and guidance for anyone supporting a grieving child or young person. Over 40% of our calls come from professionals seeking additional guidance and information.
Excellent course which has given me lots of tools to use in the future and a good sense of the help and support which is available to bereaved families. Great balance of resources and teaching methods to deliver messages, and anecdotes I will remember and use.