Bereavement support provision in primary schools: an exploratory study.
- Resource Type
- Article
- Authors
- Costelloe, Ailbhe, ; Mintz, Joseph; Lee, Frances
- Source
- Educational Psychology in Practice; Sep2020, Vol. 36 Issue 3, p281-296, 16p
- Subject
- Primary school facilities
Educational psychologists
Children
School statistics
Well-being
- Language
- ISSN
- 02667363
In the UK, approximately 1 in 29 children have experienced the death of a parent or sibling. It is argued that schools are suitably positioned to provide support to bereaved children. However, there is a gap in research exploring bereavement support provision (BSP) in primary schools. This paper presents the qualitative phase of a mixed-methods study which aimed to gain insight into BSP in primary schools in one UK Local Authority. After completing an online questionnaire, 16 school staff took part in semi-structured interviews. The findings of this study highlighted that BSP is characterised by emotional support and other indirect responses. A key finding is that providing emotional support to a bereaved child has a negative impact on the emotional well-being of staff. This study discusses how educational psychologists (EPs) are well placed to provide whole school and targeted bereavement support to children and school staff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]