Educating in times of grief: We need your views

A year ago, the UK Commission on bereavement was coordinating one of the largest ever consultations on bereavement support ever undertaken in the UK. The aim of this work was to better understand the different experiences of bereavement and to map out the kinds of help that are most useful to those who have been bereaved of someone close to them.

I would like to thank thos of you who responded to the call for evidence.

The Commission heard from over a thousand adults and almost one hundred children and young people. The Commission realised that supporting communities across the United Kingdom to normalise reactions to grief would help to build resilient and compassionate communities. Among a range of recommendations to support this process, the Commission called for grief education to be a key topic that should be included in the curriculum.

This recommendation was developed following engagement with 31 000 students voting on the topic of grief education with one of the Commission's partners, VotesforSchools. The responses from young people were helpful and thought-provoking: 58% of primary school pupils, 38% of secondary school pupils, and 65% of college students voted to have lessons in school on how to cope with loss and bereavement.