{
  "abstract": "Background Each year, around 46,300 children have a parent die. This does not include children mourning the death of other loved ones (Child Bereavement UK. UK death & bereavement statistics 2018 [Internet]). Through one-to-one support in schools, it became apparent that many staff lacked the confidence or guidance to help bereaved pupils. The children’s team is small and unable to meet current demand (Scholes. Bereavement. 2024; Feb 14). The aim was to upskill school staff to provide high quality compassionate and effective support to grieving children, making the service sustainable and enabling the team to reach more children throughout the county.Aim For schools in the county to take a proactive approach in supporting bereaved children (Dawson, Hare, Selman, et al. Bereavement. 2023 Apr. 12).Method A sample of referrals were reviewed over the last year to identify schools and speak with current school partners to assess confidence in supporting children. Schools were identified with bereaved pupils who had not referred to the service. In response, a school-specific pack was created, with information about the service, grief stages, support strategies, and activities. 168 local schools were contacted with an offer to deliver and discuss the pack directly.Results 55 schools requested hand-delivered packs, allowing the team to build relationships and discuss their work directly. This led to two schools requesting drop-in sessions for bereaved children, and for six schools to lead staff meetings or assemblies. Five schools asked for packs by post, 20 more are arranging meetings with the team. Of the remaining number, 85 schools did not respond, and three misunderstood the email as a fundraising request. The plan is to follow up with non-responders by ‘phone.Conclusion Referrals from schools have increased as awareness of the service grows. Schools are beginning to offer initial support before referring, and some families report strong support from their child’s school. Data is currently being collected to show how these positive outcomes are linked to schools receiving information packs.",
  "authors": [
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Ashgate Hospice, Chesterfield, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Sally Bird"
    }
  ],
  "title": "P-113 Empowering schools to support bereaved children",
  "uid": "0e63a225-3914-575b-855a-b716e91efe69"
}