Rapid Response Bereavement Training for Schools
Bereavement support and training for schools immediately following a death in the school community.
Bereavement training and support for schools needing urgent help
Have you experienced a death in your school community? It can be difficult to know how to immediately respond, what to say and how to support your students and colleagues while they are grieving. Whether it’s the tragic death of a pupil, teacher or important figure within your school, Winston’s Wish is here to help.
We have over 30 years of experience supporting grieving children and young people and can offer your school support, guidance and training. Our Rapid Response training package is designed to help school staff in those days and weeks following a bereavement. It compliments our other resources and support services. You can access our free online resources via our Support for Schools hub, see additional information further down this page.
What does the training cover?
Our Rapid Response training package is a one-hour online training session with one of our experienced training practitioners, delivered via Zoom or Teams, and covers:
- An introduction to the needs of bereaved children and young people
- What grief looks like in the classroom
- Initial conversations about grief
- Practical considerations in the short, medium and long term
- Staff wellbeing
- Informal questions and discussions
This one-hour training session costs £100.- It is designed for primary and secondary schools, colleges and universities.
You’ll also benefit from 15% off any bespoke training sessions booked within three months of the Rapid Response training. You’ll also receive one of our publications free of charge.
Other free bereavement resources for schools
PSHE lessons
Download our free PSHE lessons for Key Stages 1-4, including lesson plans, presentations and resources and help your pupils develop the skills and understanding they need.
Short online training
Our 20-minute 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.
Advice for schools
From supporting grieving children through exams to helping a newly bereaved child return to school, we have lots of guidance written by our bereavement specialists.
General bereavement information
Advice and resources to support grieving children and young people, including on bereavement by suicide, homicide and serious illness and for children with SEND.
Bereavement policy template for schools
Download our template and guide to create a bereavement policy for your school and use our guide, strategy and charter documents to support grieving students.
Advice and stories for young people
Our young people’s website Help 2 Make Sense is packed with advice and tips from our bereavement support team, as well as real life stories from other grieving young people.
Suggested reading list
A list of books to help bereaved children of different ages to understand what has happened and help them express their feelings.
On-demand grief support
If you need some guidance on what to say or how to support a grieving young person, you can reach out to a member of our team. Or you can encourage a young person to get in touch with us themselves.
If you need to speak to us in a language other than English, we can use interpreters over the phone, and we can use the Relay UK app if you have hearing or speech difficulties.
Call
Call us for free on 08088 020 021 between 8am-8pm, weekdays.
Email us on ask@winstonswish.org or fill out our contact form and we’ll reply within two working days.
Live chat
Chat online between 3-8pm, weekdays by clicking the blue ‘Chat with us’ button at the bottom right of your screen.
Text
For urgent support, text WW to 85258 to speak with someone from our trusted partner, Shout.
Fantastic session on child bereavement with Winston’s Wish. I recommend speaking to them about training. All people who deal with children should be equipped with this knowledge and understanding.
Request a Rapid Response training package
Please complete the from below with as much information as possible so that we can respond as promptly as we can (we aim to reply within two working days). We’ll get back to you to discuss the training package and arrange a time and date. If you are looking for different support, please get in touch by emailing training@winstonswish.org and we can explore possible options.
Rapid Response Bereavement Training Request Form
You might also be interested in
Support for young people
All our information and advice aimed directly at young people, plus our on-demand services, bereavement support and counselling for them.
Fundraise at your school
From making us your charity of the year to organising a Wear Wellies Day, there are lots of ways your school can raise money and help us support other grieving children.
Volunteer
Whether you can volunteer a few minutes, a few hours or a few days, you can help us change the lives of other grieving children.
Connect with us
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