Schools Participation request for Psychology Research Project

27/11/2019

Invitation To Participate  -  Research into School Approaches To Bereavement

I am looking for schools to take part in a Year 3 Educational Psychology doctoral research project.

Research suggests that nearly 5% of children experience the death of a parent by the age of 16 and many more will experience the death of other family members, friends, pets or other significant individual in their lives.

Although death and bereavement are inevitable parts of life, childhood bereavement can present as a risk factor in the development of academic, social, emotional and mental health difficulties.

I intend to undertake exploratory, case study research in a small number of schools to investigate the types of systemic approaches to bereavement support that may exist in schools and what factors promote and inhibit such approaches, including cultural factors.

Primary, secondary and special schools in Warwickshire are welcome to get in touch about participating. Your school might be interested in taking part because you have experience of supporting bereaved pupils or have received bereavement training; however, don’t worry if your school has little or no experience in proactive approaches to bereavement – you’re not alone, as research suggests that this is the case in many schools.

I hope that taking part in the research will provide schools with the opportunity to both celebrate and further develop good practice in this area.

What will you need to do?

If you agree to take part in this study, I would like to come along to a staff meeting to outline the project.  I will ask you to provide copies of any policies or curriculum resources related to bereavement and for a small group of staff to take part in one 90 minute group interview.

This will involve 3-6 members of staff who have interest and / or experience in the topic, to explore the issues described above.  Participating schools will be provided with information and feedback based on the findings of the research that can be used to inform the development of their policies and practices in supporting pupils affected by bereavement.

If you are interested in taking part and would like more information about the research, please phone me on 01926 742921 or email me at clairekime@warwickshire.gov.uk.

Claire Kime

(Trainee Educational Psychologist)