Every child and young person will react to, feel and express loss differently, and this will change over time. There is no right or wrong way for a young person to grieve. Children and young people who have gone through a loss can feel:

• anxious or worried, including about their own health or the health of people close to them
• frightened about losing other people they love
• sad, low or withdrawn
• isolated or lonely
• angry or irritable
• guilty
• numb
• physically unwell
• unable to concentrate
• unable to sleep
• that their moods change quickly
• that they cannot accept the situation
• that they are struggling to cope

It’s helpful to remember that it is normal for children to feel and experience these things after a loss, particularly if they have lost someone they were close to. At Rowner we use our PD learning to help children consider their own and others’ emotions. Recently, Year 4 has been doing just this. To help with the array of feelings the children created their own ‘bereavement tree’. For those who wanted to, they wrote special messages to their loved ones. We used this as a way to help us express difficult feelings. The children are reminded regularly that any member of Team Rowner is emotionally available to support children with understanding and managing their feelings.