Strathcarron Hospice is supporting Carrongrange High School to be the first school in Scotland to receive the Good Life, Good Death, Good Grief Bereavement Charter Status, to educate pupils and staff about death and dying.

Pupils at the Grangemouth school have been learning about death and dying – including holding a mock funeral – to open up conversations around end of life and bereavement in a ground breaking project.

The school was moved to look into education and training around death, dying and bereavement from Strathcarron following the impacts of deaths within the school community over the last few years.

To better support pupils and staff through their loss, the school initially reached out to Strathcarron Hospice who provided bereavement training for staff which would be rolled across the school where appropriate.

Janine Proudlock, Executive Headteacher, Carrongrange High School & Inclusion and Wellbeing Service, said: “Death is such an important part of life. Death is not a swear word but it does feel very taboo at times, and we wanted to remove that.

“Everyone deals with it differently – people are worried about saying the right thing. The subject of death and dying is not currently in the Scottish curriculum and this is not something we are taught to teach.  

“You could choose to include it within Religious and Moral Education, but there is nothing outlined around this topic or how different faiths cope with death within their culture or community. There can also be nuances around what language is used by some people – it’s a very personal and individual subject.

“We realised how important it is to teach our young people to understand death and what that looks like and feels like.

 “We have created a policy and guidance note around how we will communicate when someone has died and what that message should look like, to better understand death and remembering those who die.”

 

COMMUNITY

The school already had an established link with the Hospice before the bereavements within their school community, fundraising for the well regarded local charity. A core class at Carrongrange set up ‘Bonnie’s Bloomers’ where they bake and sell bread to staff as part of an enterprise business. Funds raised are donated back to the Hospice. The school also participates in the Falkirk Rotary Club Swimathon annually raising funds for Strathcarron.

The school contacted Strathcarron Hospice’s Education team for advice and support, and staff visited to support on a bereavement training programme and start working on the Good Life, Good Death, Good Grief Bereavement Charter Status.  Pupils also visited the Hospice to find out more about the care and support offered there.

The school has also taken part in an eight-week programme called ‘The D Word’ -  a social enterprise set up by Gillian Robertson a previous head teacher at Carrongrange - who is now a celebrant and recognised a gap in learning as part of her work.

The D Word aims to contribute to an increasingly compassionate society where talking about death is a more common and comfortable experience.

The hope is to help reduce anxiety and apprehension, through their D Word resource, designed to be delivered by experienced Celebrants to groups of any age and stage who would benefit from being supported to become familiar with what to expect when someone close dies.

Janine said: “Gillian’s vision for this was that the young people with special needs are involved with the process of talking about death and funerals. It’s such an important part of life, everyone will need to experience it at some point, so why not make sure they are prepared.

“When we asked the pupils what they thought happened when someone dies, the kids came out with some really interesting ideas which they had picked up from watching TV, movies or in comics. I went into it thinking they would never have even thought about it, but they all had their own ideas – we really had underestimated how much these young people have thought about it.”

UNIQUE LEARNING EXPERIENCE

On the D Word course, pupils look at what happens when someone dies and the practicalities around who you should notify, who you talk to for support and about the varying language that people use around death.

They explore what a minister and celebrant does, visit a funeral director, how to build a coffin, discuss what happens with ashes, visit a crematorium. The young people from Carrongrange even conducted a mock funeral including carrying a coffin into the church and learning how to take a cord at a graveside.

As part of the mock funeral, church goers attended as pretend mourners – even dressing in black - and pupils were invited to select songs, poems and readings they felt would be appropriate for the occasion.

The church goers and pupils then held a mock wake with tea and buns.

Nikki Jorgensen, class teacher at Carrongrange High School said: “In terms of preparation for them for pupils if and when they attend a funeral, it’s been really impactful and important for them to have this understanding. It’s real life and makes it less taboo.

“It’s about choice, agency and planning – they were able to see they could choose poems, songs and even their own coffin.

“When we visited Camelon Graveyard the pupils found it fascinating. They were looking at the ages of people and the period where they died and the stories that could be behind that.

“One pupil also designed and made a head stone as part of the project.

“Taking part in this has had such a positive impact on the pupils, the feedback has been really powerful. I think they now feel more able to talk about death and dying and they understand it better.

“It can be sad for some of the pupils and it is a heavy subject, but it’s a good preparatory experience for them.

“They might get upset or won’t want to contribute. We have been very open that it’s okay to cry and okay to talk about it. We are clear that’s all okay and part of the process.  

“We feel it’s important for young people to learn and it demystifies it for them so they know what’s to expect when the time comes.

“Our young people were able to see they could be part of that and choose poems, songs and even their own coffin and design of it should they wished.”

 

INCLUSIVE LEARNING

Carrongrange is an additional needs school which brings its own unique challenges.

Some classes are supporting pupils who have a life limiting condition. Occasionally parents have opted out of their child being involved in the D Word Programme due to the sensitivities of the future for their child.

Janine said: “It’s a really strong piece of work for any school, but for additional needs it can take a bit more time for these things to sink in. Having an open environment without fear or concern is really important. The needs of our young people are becoming much more complex so where appropriate, the programme is hugely beneficial.

“One young person with ASN was very dysregulated for a number of weeks following the death of a fellow pupil. We knew they were struggling to understand what had happened, so it was important for us to relay that at a level that was appropriate for them with support and resources in place.

“For some people with additional support needs, things can be very black and white. We have to gauge that on an individual basis and work with and around that and how the individuals want to remember – or not as the case may be – as appropriate at that time.”

The school now aims to offer The D Word once a year for senior groups of young people, and they have brought in a range of literature and books for a wide age range of ages for the pupils they support.

Carrongrange is also developing a place of remembrance within the school for an area of reflection to remember loved ones who have died, where large windows will be adorned with rainbow colours, integrated with pupil artwork.

Janine says this brings in another important part of death, reflecting on what’s the most important things in your own life, how do you remember people and how you want people to remember you.

She adds: “For us it’s really important to have these conversations and be open about it. Having an open environment without fear or concern is really important.”

As part of Strathcarron’s commitment to having strong links with the community, the Hospice offers free Childhood Bereavement training to all primary and secondary schools in Forth Valley & North Lanarkshire. Workshops are held at the school or at the Hospice, with an aim is to support the school to have a prepared response to supporting bereaved children and develop a bereavement policy.

Teaching and support staff are well placed to help children understand/cope better with feelings of grief, enabling them to learn from difficult life experiences such as bereavement.

Rebecca Munday, Strathcarron Hospice Social Worker with the Patient and Family Support Team, who leads on bereavement support for young people said: "We’re really pleased to have partnered with the team at Carrongrange on this education and training. It’s been so encouraging to see the learning experiences of the young people and how this work has grown over time.

"From a bereavement support perspective, we often find that when young people have experienced a death and feel anxious about what comes next, it can really help to gently introduce them to what a funeral involves. Being able to see the environment in advance and understand what will happen can make the experience feel far less daunting.

"If more young people had access to experiences like this, it could make a meaningful difference by helping to ease uncertainty and reduce fear of the unknown."

Liz Smith, Practice Educator in Strathcarron Hospice Education, Research & Practice Development Department added: ”Everything we do as a Hospice is in our community, with our community, for our community – supporting people to live and die well.

 "It has been a pleasure to work with the staff at Carrongrange High School, supporting them to discuss and reflect on how they currently manage bereavement within the school and providing them with information and resources to further develop their knowledge and understanding of bereavement and loss within their school.”

Strathcarron Hospice is a vital service in the community, providing specialist palliative care and support to over 1400 people annually with life limiting illnesses or conditions. The Hospice operates free of charge and offers a range of services, including a 24 bed inpatient unit, Hospice at Home, Live Your Life support line and education and bereavement services. Approximately 80 percent of the work of the Hospice takes place within the communities it serves across Forth Valley, Cumbernauld and Kilsyth.

Further resources:

Training for Schools and Communities with Strathcarron Hospice 

  The D Word CIC  

Bereavement Resources at Strathcarron Hospice 

Bereavement Charter Mark for primary schools | Good Life, Good Death, Good Grief

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