Learning about loss and bereavement Lesson resource for
Learning about loss and bereavement Lesson resource for Key Stage 4 Lesson 2 of 2 Developed in conjunction with Brighton & Hove City Council PSHE Team
Where to go for help Online chat and crisis messenger You can access bereavement support via online chat on the Winston’s Wish website. winstonswish. org Online chat is designed to help you talk about your grief and manage your grief when you do feel like you need help. If you want to speak to someone urgently, please contact the Winston’s Wish Crisis Messenger: text WW to 85258
Learning outcomes Today we are building our skills in supporting someone who has experienced a bereavement. So that… • I can describe a number of strategies that might help someone manage grief and loss • I can suggest where to get help.
Ground rules • Understand that we might all have different reactions, experiences and beliefs about death. • Listen actively and attentively. • Ask for clarification if you are confused. • Ensure everyone has their chance to speak and avoid comments that may be harmful to others. • Be respectful both in the lesson, but also outside of this lesson, especially to anyone who has shared thoughts and feelings. • Right to pass.
Quick reflection – paired discussion 1. What emotions may a teenager feel if they are experiencing grief? 2. How may grief affect them in school? 3. What could a grieving young person do to handle their feelings? (Think about the strategies we have learned to manage difficult feelings. ) 4. What could you do, as a friend or family member, to help? 5. Who else could help?
How to help a grieving friend
Case studies – what are the key issues? In pairs or groups, discuss the case study you have been given. How is the character feeling? How are they behaving? What difficulties are they facing? Who else in the scenario might be affected?
Case study 1 Danni is worried about her girlfriend Femi’s mum died a few years ago now but Danni feels anxious when she tells Femi about any rows she has had with her own mum, or about something nice that her mum has done. Danni and Femi do talk quite a bit about things and Femi has taken Danni to visit her mother’s grave. Danni just feels that sometimes she might say or do the wrong thing, like when her mum took her to buy a prom dress, Femi came with them but she looked sad all day. Danni feels guilty that she’s close to both her mum and dad, and she doesn’t know how to make it ok. She knows everyone thinks Femi has ‘moved on’ but Danni is aware that’s not really the case.
Case study 2 Amy’s brother died by suicide last year. She is still sad every day, and she can’t see the point in much any more. She truants school and has started to drink alcohol quite heavily. She has different friends now, as on some level, she just can’t face the questions about whether she ever had an idea what her brother was about to do? On occasions she takes drugs as it seems to help her to forget for a short while. Her parents have split up since her brother died and her mum insists on keeping everything in his room unchanged and just as it was the day he died. Amy feels like her life stopped that day too.
Case study 3 Amir’s father was a member of the UK Armed Forces and six months ago he was killed by a roadside improvised explosive device. Amir has worked really hard to step up and help his mother and three younger brothers and sisters. He wants to be a Lance Corporal too in memory of his father. His mother is really unhappy about this choice as she says she can’t lose her son as well as her husband. Amir feels trapped. When he is at school, Amir sometimes finds his heart is racing and he’s sweating. He usually says he feels unwell and leaves the room, but his mates have started to notice. He just wants to get away. He also feels that if he could get a job that might help with money issues too.
Research • In pairs, discuss what may help a young person to manage their grief. Carry out further research from one or more of these websites Young Minds: youngminds. org. uk/find-help/feelings-and-symptoms/grief-andloss/#working-through-your-grief The Mix: www. themix. org. uk/mental-health/looking-after-yourself/grief-andbereavement-6290. html Cruse: www. cruse. org. uk/get-help/about-grief/how-to-help-someone-bereaved Mind: www. mind. org. uk/information-support/guides-to-support-andservices/bereavement-by-suicide/
Write a letter to support one of the young people You could write to: Danni Femi Amy Amir Writing frame available if you would like one.
Instagram • OR use your previous learning to create an Instagram infographic or story giving ideas to help a young person manage their grief. an example for anxiety
Success criteria Things to include: ü ü ü ü An understanding of what the young person is experiencing An explanation of grief and how it may affect someone The impact a bereavement may have on a range of things Ideas and activities to do that may promote positive self care Suggestions for managing family issues What you as a friend could offer Links to support services and how to get help
Revisiting our learning outcomes Self assessment Give yourself a mark out of 10 for how well you think you can: ü Describe grief and the impact a death of a loved may have on a young person ü Explain a number of strategies that might help someone manage grief and loss ü Suggest where to get help ü Talk about grief, loss and bereavement
What’s your takeaway learning from the last two lessons?
What have others said about death? • The pain of grief is just as much a part of life as the joy of love; it is, perhaps, the price we pay for love, the cost of commitment. To ignore this fact, or to pretend that it is not so, is to put on emotional blinkers which leave us unprepared for the losses that will inevitably occur in our own lives and unprepared to help others cope with losses in theirs. Colin Murray Parkes • Death is not the opposite of life, but a part of it. Haruki Murakami • That it will never come again is what makes life so sweet. Emily Dickinson • For life and death are one, even as the river and the sea are one. Kahlil Gibran • Mostly it is loss which teaches us about the worth of things. Arthur Schopenhauer • No one is actually dead until the ripples they cause in the world die away. Terry Pratchett
Where to go for help Online chat and crisis messenger You can access bereavement support via online chat on the Winston’s Wish website. winstonswish. org Online chat is designed to help you talk about your grief and manage your grief when you do feel like you need help. If you want to speak to someone urgently, please contact the Winston’s Wish Crisis Messenger: text WW to 85258
winstonswish. org info@winstonswish. org Freephone Helpline: 08088 020 021
- Slides: 19