Five-session mentoring course

Bereavement and loss

Who it's for

Consider this course for a pupil showing:

Noticeable withdrawal from friends, activities or usual interests since a loss
Difficulty concentrating, or a drop in work quality, without another clear explanation
Sudden anger, irritability or outbursts that seem disproportionate to the trigger
Reluctance to talk about the person who died, or conversely, difficulty stopping
Regression to younger behaviours, or changes in sleep and appetite

What it works towards

Normalise the wide range of grief responses, including ones that do not look like sadness
Build vocabulary for naming and expressing grief-related feelings
Develop practical coping strategies for particularly hard days, including anniversaries
Create space to remember and honour the person who died, in the pupil's own way
Know how and when to ask for extra support, at school or beyond

The five sessions

Session 1 Understanding grief Pupil can describe at least two different ways grief can feel, beyond sadness alone.
Session 2 My feelings Pupil can express one grief-related feeling using words, drawing, or another chosen format.
Session 3 Coping with hard days Pupil can name at least one coping strategy for particularly difficult days, including anniversaries.
Session 4 Keeping memories Pupil has created one memory activity that feels meaningful to the pupil.
Session 5 My support plan Pupil has a personalised support plan and knows what further help is available if needed.

A sixth session follows, without the pupil: the mentor writes the support plan and agrees next steps.

The approach, and where it comes from

Grief in children and young people rarely looks like the sadness adults expect. It can show up as anger, distraction, silence, or behaviour that seems entirely unaffected, and this course is built around that reality rather than a single 'stages of grief' model. It responds to Childhood Bereavement Network figures, drawn from the last national survey in 2004, estimating that around 1 in 29 school-age children in the UK have been bereaved of a parent or sibling — roughly one in every class — and to University of Cambridge research finding most schools lack a planned bereavement response. This course is not a substitute for specialist bereavement counselling where a pupil needs it, the final session includes signposting to appropriate services.

Try it with a small group

Three weeks free, no card, up to three staff and ten pupils. Everything recorded during the trial carries over if you continue.

Start the free pilot