Nigel Bavidge discusses the beginning of Rainbows GB (WRITING IN 1997)
In memory of Nigel Bavidge who was fundamental in the development of Rainbows in the UK.
Nigel Bavidge (1944- 2010)
https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/obituaries/nigel-bavidge-1961906
Published
Hurt that has to be heard in the Times Educational Supplement Editorial,
where he discusses the beginnings of Rainbows GB
I read with interest "A death in the
family" (TES, September 19) and the letters from Murray White and the Rev
Sue Macbeth (TES, October 13, 27).
It is now a fact
of life that in every classroom there are children going through a grieving
process following the break-up of the family unit. Some children are grieving
the loss of a parent through death, while many more are experiencing
re-adjustment because a parent has left the family home.
While the two
experiences are different, the processes through which the children must go are
very similar. Grief is a natural response following any significant loss - its
resolution can take a long time, but it can be achieved if there is support,
listening, and the opportunity to express the feelings which are experienced.
Yet too often children remain, and are encouraged to remain, silent. This does
not mean that pain is not experienced, it means that it is unexpressed and
buried. However, even though the child may co-operate with the expectations of
silence, all the evidence indicates that unresolved grief will eventually find
expression, often some considerable time after the event which provoked the
grief.
While it is true
that teachers are not social workers, they are adults who are very significant
in the life of the children they teach. The children look to their teachers for
normal human care and interest. Most children experiencing a painful loss and
the subsequent re-adjustment do not require a social worker or a counsellor.
What most children need is for the important adults in their lives to listen to
their story, to allow them to express their feelings and accept them without
judgment or criticism, and without suggesting that there are solutions or easy
answers. Teachers are in a unique position to offer this support.
While most of
the support which teachers can, and indeed do, offer is informal, there are
more structured ways of offering help. One such way is through the programmes
provided by the organisation Rainbows. This organisation, introduced into
England five years ago, has set up groups in more than 60 schools. After training,
volunteers from the staff run the programmes with small groups of children over
a 12-week period. The first schools to start the programmes are embarking upon
their fifth series.
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