Grief Awareness Week
National Grief Awareness Week runs from 2 to 8 December 2024
by Claire Law
Suitable for Whole School (Sec)
Aims
To consider how grief is experienced, and the importance of having opportunities to talk about grief.
Preparation and materials
- You will need the PowerPoint slides that accompany this assembly (Grief Awareness Week) and the means to display them.
- Have a pair of glasses (ideally your own!) perched on your head. Have a member of staff primed to shout out, ‘They’re on your head!’ during the assembly if the students don’t make this point.
- Have available the YouTube video ‘Sad Film’ and the means to show it during the assembly. It is 4.23 minutes long and is available at: https://youtu.be/AGuBm_911Fo
- Note: this assembly considers the subject of grief. Please be aware of any recent bereavements and have support in place for the students if they need it.
You may wish to have some pastoral support available following the assembly for anyone who is affected and wishes to speak about their own grief.
Please make students aware of support systems available in school. - Additional resources: you may wish to offer PSHE input in lesson time around the topic of grief. There are some excellent resources available on the Winston’s Wish website: https://tinyurl.com/2tcvmajx
Assembly
- Show Slide 1.
Welcome the students to the assembly. - Explain that you’re having a difficult day today because you’ve lost your glasses. Explain that you’ve put them somewhere, but you can’t remember where. Tell the students that you think you must have lost them. Ask if anyone can help.
Wait for a student, or your primed member of staff, to point out that your glasses are on your head.
Laugh and express how grateful you are. - Point out that some losses - like this one - can be amusing. But there are some losses in life that are not funny, and cause us a great deal of pain.
The word we use to describe the pain of loss is grief, and this is what we are going to consider today. It may not be an easy topic to talk about, but it’s important that we aren’t silent about the pain of loss. - Every December, a charity called the Good Grief Trust runs Grief Awareness Week. Its hope is that by talking about grief, we make it easier for people to open up to others when they are grieving.
Talking about grief can help people to process their feelings of loss. Grief Awareness Week aims to give people the opportunity to share their feelings and talk about their experiences of loss and grief. - Show Slide 2.
Many people say that when someone they love dies, friends and family can find it difficult to know what to say, and they may avoid talking about the person who has died. Yet talking about our grief and how we feel about someone who has died can be helpful. Making it OK to talk about grief is what Grief Awareness Week hopes to promote. - In time, each one of us will be affected by grief, because loss is a part of life.
The Bible tells us that Jesus experienced grief when he heard about the death of his friend, Lazarus. In the New Testament, John describes Jesus’ response by saying simply, ‘Jesus wept.’ (John 11.35)
There is no right or wrong way to grieve. Some people show their grief outwardly by crying, or becoming angry. Some people describe feeling overcome or frightened by their feelings. Others say they feel numb. - How we react to grief may depend on different things.
- The relationship we had with the person who has died.
- Whether the death was expected.
- How the person died.
- Any previous experience with death that we have had. - Show Slide 3.
Our feelings may change day by day, or even hour by hour. There’s no ‘one face of grief’. It’s quite normal to have ups and downs. We may experience all kinds of difficult and unexpected emotions, from shock or anger to disbelief, guilt and profound sadness. The pain of grief can also disrupt our physical health, making it difficult to sleep, eat or even think straight. - Show Slide 4.
We may feel sad on the inside, but feel the need to look happy on the outside. - In our assembly today, we are going to hear from someone who has experienced grief for himself: the children’s author Michael Rosen. Rosen’s son, Eddie, died from meningitis when he was just 18.
In response, Rosen wrote a book to explain, in plain and simple language, what his grief felt like. Michael Rosen’s Sad Book was illustrated by Quentin Blake, and was later turned into a short film.
We are going to watch it now, and get a sense of Michael Rosen’s grief.
Show the YouTube video ‘Sad Film’ (4.23 minutes long). - The video is not easy to watch because grief is very, very sad. Yet being alone with that sadness is even harder. Talking with others about grief can help, which is why we’re talking about it today.
If any of us have experienced bereavement, we can chat with someone and feel less alone.
Explain to the students what pastoral support is available to them, both straight after the assembly and more generally. - Show Slide 5.
There are some great charities that provide space to talk about grief. One of them is called Winston’s Wish, which supports children and young people who are grieving.
Some of us might recognize one of its ambassadors: Alfie Watts featured on the BBC TV show Race Across the World. Alfie’s mother died when he was just five years old, and his experience led him to support Winston’s Wish. The charity offers a range of support to grieving children and young people, including a free web chat facility where people can speak with a grief counsellor.
Time for reflection
We’ve already noted that Jesus experienced grief himself. The Bible has a lot to say about caring for people who suffer, including supporting people who are suffering from grief. ‘Loving our neighbour’ includes offering care and support to people who may be struggling with grief.
Let’s spend some time today thinking of, and praying for, people in our world who are grieving.
First, let’s call to mind people who are grieving the loss of someone as a result of warfare.
Pause to allow time for thought.
Now, let’s remember people who grieve for family members and friends who’ve lived a long life.
Pause to allow time for thought.
We pause to hold in mind people who are grieving for a child or young person.
Pause to allow time for thought.
Finally, let’s take a moment to remember, and pray for, anyone we know who is grieving at this time.
Pause to allow time for thought.
Prayer
Loving God,
When we experience grief, we can find ourselves grappling with many questions and uncertainties.
We pray for anyone who is grieving currently.
May they have wisdom and understanding to guide them on this journey.
Help them to have people around them who they can speak to about their loved one if they want to.
Help each of us here be someone that our friends and family can speak to about grief.
Amen.
