good life, good death, good grief

Ideas for …

Those who work with young people

Engagement with children and young people is vitally important in helping to foster healthy and constructive approaches to death, dying and bereavement among young people in Scotland.

If you work with children or young people, consider how to engage them in thinking, reflecting on and discussing these issues.

Seasons for Growth

Seasons for Growth is an educational peer support programme aimed at promoting the skills children and adults need to help them cope with significant loss and change in their lives.

The Notre Dame Centre, Glasgow, has been the licence holder for Seasons for Growth in Scotland since 2001. There are currently 18 trainers who have trained over 3000 Companions across all local authorities in Scotland to facilitate groups in schools and community settings. Companions are based in statutory and voluntary organisations and come from a wide range of backgrounds: teachers, classroom assistants, health improvement officers, social workers, chaplains etc.

Since 2007 the Scottish Government has provided funding for a National Coordinator to promote Seasons for Growth and support the establishment of sustainable local networks to support delivery of the programme and ensure that the philosophy and code of ethics are followed with integrity.

Research and evaluation over 15 years has consistently demonstrated the effectiveness of the programme in reducing isolation and promoting social connectedness, confidence and resilience.

http://www.notredamecentre.org.uk/home.html

A Curriculum for Excellence

The Mental, Emotional, Social and Physical Wellbeing experiences and outcomes withinA Curriculum for Excellence Health and Wellbeing Framework provide an excellent opportunity for discussion and activities related to death, dying and bereavement. For example:

  • I understand that there are people I can talk to and that there are a number of ways in which I can gain access to practical and emotional support to help me and others in a range of circumstances. HWB 0-03a / HWB 1-03a / HWB 2-03a / HWB 3-03a / HWB 4-03a
  • I am learning skills and strategies which will support me in challenging times, particularly in relation to change and loss. HWB 0-07a / HWB 1-07a / HWB 2-07a / HWB 3-07a /HWB 4-07a
  • I understand that people can feel alone and can be misunderstood and left out by others. I am learning how to give appropriate support. HWB 0-08a / HWB 1-08a / HWB 2-08a / HWB 3-08a / HWB 4-08a

These experiences and outcomes are the responsibility of all staff working with children and young people in school and community. This includes early years establishments, looked after children and young people and children and young people educated outside the formal school environment. The ways in which staff and others could be involved would depend on context, respective roles and their relationship to the young person.

Lesson Plan

In England, Dying Mattershas produced a number of resources to help teachers incorporate death, dying and bereavement into lessons.

These have been designed to suit the English curriculum, and Good Life, Good Death, Good Grief would like to design resources suitable for the Scottish education system. If you have the interest and expertise to be involved in this, please get in touch.

Example: Bounce Back

Bounce Back is an Australian classroom resiliency programme. In February 2007 the Centre for Confidence and Wellbeing ran a two day course based on Bounce Back in Glasgow presented by Dr Toni Noble, one of the creators of the programme.

The course attracted around 65 participants, many from education. The Centre believes that the response to this course was extremely positive, and held three more courses in August 2008, featuring Midlothian and Glasgow City Council.

Within its Activities Report for 2007, the Centre recognises that

“... Bounce Back is a very specific programme on resilience... and is not directed in general towards the education of feelings. It specifically looks at resilience – particularly coping with set-backs and failures. We recognise that there is a growing problem with young people’s resilience partly because parents are trying to ensure that their children experience no bad feelings. We think that Bounce Back is a useful anti-dote to this and recommend that schools implementing it should use the ideas to educate parents.”

Example: Volunteers as ambassadors, Children’s Hospice Association, Scotland (CHAS)

In order to increase the public awareness of the role of their hospice, CHAS has developed a volunteers’ speaker network consisting of 125 enthusiasts.

The volunteers have a direct link with clinical service, and meeting patients and families, they are able to bring real life stories into their public talks.

A vibrant team of young volunteers has also been developed with the aim of supporting young people who are dying. The aim is to develop and sustain a network that is locally based to offer support in the neighbourhood.

The young volunteers stay for a long time as supporters of the hospice and/or may come back later in life to volunteer for the hospice.

Example: St Christopher’s Hospice Schools Project

The St Christopher’s Hospice Schools Project aimed to bring diverse groups of people together in order to learn from each other and dispel myths. 10 and 11 year old children were brought into the hospice, and worked with patients to write songs, create theatre based on patients’ life stories, and produce large mosaics and other artworks.

Feedback from participants was very positive, and indicated that children and patients enjoyed the project and that it dispelled some myths about hospices. More recent experience has indicated that this model is easily transferrable to community groups other than children, such as care homes and faith groups.

A guidance and information pack is available from d.brady@stchristophers.org.uk for a £5 donation. This pack is a ‘how to do it’ manual, highlighting the four week model and key considerations.

Example: Perth & Kinross Schools Bereavement Project

The Perth & Kinross Schools Bereavement Project, funded by Choose Life, involved providing each school in the area with a bereavement resource, providing support to teachers, and employing a teacher to go into schools and undertake projects with the children (eg artwork) relating to bereavement.

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Before I die I want to ...
Bereavement Charter for Scotland
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