The figures come from charity Child Bereavement UK, which helps schools to support pupils who are bereaved or to handle situations when a death affects the whole school.
One study found that 92 per cent of young people will experience a “significant bereavement” before the age of 16.
However, despite this, figures from the charity show that 80 per cent of teachers have never received any kind of training around this issue.
The charity’s bid to train education staff has now been boosted by a £15,000 grant from the UPS Foundation, which will help more than 1,000 teachers to access its e-learning programme.
The programme, which normally costs £250, takes an hour to complete and has already been used by 3,500 teachers, can now be rolled out to 60 more schools thanks to the UPS funding.
According to Child Bereavement UK, schools have a vital role to play in supporting bereaved youngsters, much of which revolves around maintaining normality in the child’s life and offering “relief from grief”.
The charity advises: “Even when deeply sad, children still need to be children. Loss and grief are very grown-up experiences. School offers the chance to play, laugh, sing and generally just be a child without feeling guilty.”
However, the school will also need to be ready to provide an outlet for grief and a listening ear: “For a child who wishes to, school staff can provide an opportunity to talk about what has happened with a familiar and trusted adult in relative peace and calm.”
The funding has come about thanks to the campaigning of UPS employee Paul Turner, who lost his daughter Jessica when she was aged just 21 months. Since then Paul has supported the charity’s work.
For more information, visit www.childbereavementuk.org