Dear Parents and Carers,

The letter that I sent to you last Monday evening spoke about the importance of togetherness as we faced the week ahead.  That togetherness has been palpable throughout the school this week.  Hope emerges from dark places and in this most tragic of times I am so proud of the way in which the children have cared for and supported their friends.  I am so proud of the respectful, kind and compassionate manner in which students from every year group in the school have mourned Brodan’s death.  I am so proud of how our staff have been there for the children.  I have faith that the togetherness we have seen this week will be a source of strength for the children as we support them, and they support each other, through the coming days and weeks.  In school we have been humbled and inspired by the strength, dignity and compassion that the Dubickas family have displayed and we will continue to draw on their example as our community continues to support each other through this tragedy.

We have seen that the routine and sense of normality that a school timetable brings has helped the students most affected by Brodan’s death to get through each day.  We have also been able to organise the longer-term support that we believe the students in our school community will need between now and the end of the school year.  This support will be as follows:

• We have Pam Barton (who used to work at Parkside Primary School and is trained in dealing with bereavement) working with Jill Frampton in our Quiet Room.  Pam started with us on Wednesday and will be with us until the end of next week.  I am hugely grateful for the support of The Creative Learning Partnership Trust in enabling Pam to work with us to support our students.
• Jill Frampton, who is a Grief Recovery Specialist, will be now working with us until the end of the school year in July.  We know that grief does not end after a week or two.  It is often long lasting and we want to make sure that we have specialist support in place for the students as they grieve the death of their friend.  Jill will work alongside our Pastoral Team in school to provide this ongoing support.
• As well as the above in-school support we have also arranged for priority access for our students to be referred to specialist services.  We are in regular contact with the Dove Service and the Staywell service who provide mental health support for children and young people in Staffordshire.  We are also in close contact with CAMHS who have assured us of their awareness and understanding that students in our school community may need rapid access to specialist support.
• The Quiet Room in school has been used respectfully by the students this week.  However, it will need to change location next week as we have to be sensitive to the needs of the Year 11 and Year 13 students who begin an intense period of public examinations on Monday.  We have twenty different exams taking place next week and as the Quiet Room is located very close to the exam hall, we need to move the Quiet Room to a different part of school so the students in the exam hall are not disturbed.  The students will be informed about where and how to access the new location for the Quiet Room on Monday.

We are also aware that parents may need help and advice in supporting their children through their grief.  Please see attached for a leaflet we received from the Educational Psychologists at the Local Authority entitled When Someone Special Dies - A Guide for Parents and Carers.  The leaflet details key messages to think about as you approach any conversation with your child about their grief.  It also outlines the feelings that children often have and the ways in which they may respond to their emotions.  Finally, it gives advice on how to approach conversations with your child about death and grief.  In addition to this, we are also putting in place parental support sessions in school next week aimed at the following groups of parents:

• There will be a parental support session organised in school next week specifically for the parents of Brodan’s friends in Year 10.  We will be contacting those parents by phone today to invite them.
• We have seen that Brodan’s death has reminded some children of tragic events from their past where a parent, grandparent, close family member or friend has died.  I would like to reassure the parents of children who have been affected in this way that these feelings emerging in the way that they have done so this week is not unusual.  We know that grief affects different people in different ways and that grief can emerge or reemerge months or years after the death of the person close to them.  So, we are putting on a support session open to any parent of a child in school who thinks that their son or daughter has been affected in this way.  This support session will take place from 3.45pm to 5.15pm on Tuesday 12^th May.  If you wish to attend, please come to school (you do not need to inform us) and sign in at our reception.  The school car park will be especially busy at this time, so please park in the overflow car park at the bottom of the drive or use the bus bays.

The thoughts and prayers of the staff, governors and students at Sir Graham Balfour School remain with Brodan’s parents, his family, his friends and all those affected by this tragic news. 

Yours, with profound sadness but with heartfelt gratitude and pride for our community strength,

Mr M. Mason
Headteacher