Following the unbelievably sad news about Miles, we as a school family are so sorry that we are not at school to support everyone. We send our sincere and heartfelt condolences to Laura, Annabel and family at this extremely difficult time.
Dr Clare Jones – Education Psychologist, has signposted information for us all about where we can access support.
Cruse Bereavement can provide support for staff, parents and pupils, their office number in Newtown is 01686 610220. Their helpline is 0808 8081677, and their website is www.cruse.org.uk.
Winston’s Wish (winstonswish.org.uk) specialise in advice and support for parents and siblings when a child has died, and is also available to parents of other children who will be grieving.
Dr Clare Jones has compiled a table of activities that we may find helpful to do with the children, some of which we hope to do when we return to school;
Activities to do with your children.
At this difficult time of social distancing it may not be possible for people to attend funerals or memorial ceremonies or to perform rituals for loved ones. We may need to find different ways of remembering and honouring people. Many of the above activities can be used to help children and families to say goodbye, if they are unable to attend formal memorials. You may also wish to plan your own memorial event at home, which could include a short time for sharing memories, poems, readings or prayers, or doing something that has meaning for you all, and the person.
Children and young people may need help to hold on to memories. Below are some activities that you can do with them to help them to do this.
| Talk about the person who has died, and your special memories of them.
| Walk to a special place that the person had, or set up a special place in your home, perhaps with a photo or something special belonging to them, where you can go to think about the person. | Write a song or poem for them or about them. Make a playlist of their favourite songs, or songs that remind you of them.
| Draw or write memories of times spent with the person who has died. Ask other people for their memories. Make a scrapbook of photos and other keepsakes. |
| Write a letter to the person you have lost telling them all the things you want to say to them. You could start with “If I had five more minutes with you I would tell you….” | Send off a balloon or light a candle. Blow some bubbles into the air and imagine that they are carrying messages to the person. | Create a memory box containing items that remind them of the person who has died − photos, drawings, objects. | Do something that commemorates them, such as planting a tree, or flowers in their favourite colour or the colours of their sports team, or making a donation to a charity. |