Guidance to Assist in Managing Critical

GUIDANCE TO ASSIST IN MANAGING CRITICAL INCIDENTS POLICY

Burleigh College seeks to offer guidance and support to all staff and students in the rare occurrence of serious illness and death or sudden death of one of its community. The College recognises that incidents such as death and dying need to be managed in a sensitive manner and as individual instances.

The following is a checklist which offers an agreed approach to death and dying.

The Principal or a named nominated member of the CLT is responsible for securing a plan of action in the event of critical incident.

Information received about a death or dying may come from a variety of sources. This may include a letter to a member of staff, a remark from a student or a telephone call from parents or the police. This information should be given to the Principal promptly to facilitate appropriate action and prevent unnecessary alarm, rumour, upset and management of the situation.

Immediate Action

The Principal will need to liaise with the initial contact to clarify:-

What has happened?

Who is involved?
When did it happen?
Where did it happen?
What is the current situation?

Once clarified the Principal or a nominated member of CLT will need to take appropriate steps to:-

Inform staff enabling everyone to have the facts – this will involve a staff briefing session, or a gathering of appropriate staff members.
Inform students to enable appropriate members of the student community to have the facts, this will need to be communicated by person(s) most appropriate and able to do so using age-appropriate language. This will involve class or tutor group dissemination or whole or part College Assembly.
Inform the Chair of Governors and the Local Authority.
Secure an appropriate procedure for staff and students who are not coping to seek support and guidance by engaging appropriate personnel support to care for the emotional well-being of all concerned to be offered throughout the critical time e.g. a member of the pastoral team, College Counsellor or a member of the Local Authority Educational Psychology Service.
Identify an appropriate room to establish a safe place for staff and students to go if they are overwhelmed by grief, to share feelings and offer one-to-one support. It should be a warm and welcoming space supervised by a calm and empathetic member of staff with tissues, refreshments and writing/drawing materials available.
It should be accepted that people will be upset and there should be awareness of vulnerable groups such as friends and others who have been recently affected by bereavement.
Once the facts have been established, and if appropriate, ensure that all lists and registers are amended with immediate affect.

MEDIUM TERM ACTION

Ensure that daily routines are maintained throughout. The management task is to facilitate movement from an abnormal situation to normality as soon as possible.
Expect expressions of grief to be individual ranging from being the class clown to withdrawn and non-speaking – these may manifest over a protracted period of time.
Communicate to parents via a letter alerting them to what has happened, giving facts only.
Ensure all telephone enquiries are managed by a key person who has empathy, good communication skills and sufficient knowledge of the incident, ensuring facts only are given.
If appropriate, prepare for media enquiries by contacting the LA Press Office and prepare a press statement which gives facts and no other comments.
Maintain a written record of incidents and actions taken.
If appropriate, the police may be involved, co-operate with them, keeping a note of any details.
Contact the parents/carers/partners of the deceased/dying regarding their wishes and any appropriate arrangements. These should be discussed with other members of CLT and the Chair of Governors.
Follow-up with a written letter to the parents/carers/partners of the deceased, include any other messages and cards of condolence from staff or students.
Ensure appropriate arrangements are in place regarding College closure, cancellation of lessons and who should attend the funeral.
These arrangements need to be communicated to staff, students and parents through the appropriate channels.
Any belongings that are in College need to be collected and secured. These may be requested by the parents/carers/partners of the deceased at a later date.
Accept that student work may be affected through poor concentration and exhaustion. Offer appropriate support to minimise this.
If the above is likely to impact significantly upon examination performance a letter regarding concessions needs to be written to the examination boards.
The well-being of individuals needs to be monitored and appropriate ongoing support made available.

LONG TERM ACTION

The Principal or nominated member of CLT should maintain contact with the immediate family of the deceased to update and decide upon next actions.
At a later date it may be appropriate for the College community to meet together to remember, mourn and celebrate the life of the individual so that the tragedy can become a part of the history of the College. This may include the need for a long-term memorial such as a tree, a bench or memory book with an appropriate plaque.
Awareness of anniversaries, birthdays and so on is needed to support students and staff through these difficult times.

BOARDING HOUSE

Where this policy applies to member of the Boarding House:

Counselling support will be provided to take into account the Boarding Standards of Care.
Additional temporary staff will be appointed, as necessary.
All parents will be informed.
A meeting of the Boarding Leadership Team will be held to determine strategy.
External agencies, including CSCI will be informed.

September 2007

Adopted by Governors: March 2008

Review: 2011