Would you be upset if your child's teacher told the class her mum had died?

That is a bit a reach. You don't know if she was looking for emotional support.
As other posters have said, death is a fact of life and kids often deal better with upsetting news by not hiding it from them. It was up to the teacher to decide if she wanted to share this personal news.

No, not at all upset. It’s important the girl’s classmates know, so they can support her. And so she doesn’t have to explain it over and over, which can be retraumatising.

I’d then talk to them about it too. Death shouldn’t be a mystery. We all have different views of death, so the school can’t explain that. They can only give the facts. So, it’s important we talk it through as parents.

I’ve always spoken to my kids about death, in an age appropriate way, as it’s an unavoidable part of life. People close to them have died. Great grandparents, grandparents, close family friends, some of their close friends’ parents (several mums as well as dads) and siblings, pets. They’ve always come to funerals from a young age. IMHO it helps prepare them. I wouldn’t want the first funeral they attend to be someone really close (even me), when the whole experience is a mystery and therefore much more stressful.

As I’m not religious, I’ve drawn parallels with death in nature, e.g. how plants die and then new plants grow. I’ve reassured them that I won’t be dying any time soon, so they don’t worry. When my eldest had to have lifesaving surgery, the youngest, who was then 8, asked if he was going to die. I had to be mindful that he may and didn’t want to give false assurances. So I said probably not, as the doctors were great and he was strong. He might do, but I felt he’d be OK. Pleased to say he was.

Just saying when my DD was at nursery (aged 3) they talked about death. One of her friends grandma’s died , this opened up a topic of our dog dying and then a nursey staff had lost her mum a few weeks prior so that was talked about too. It was dealt with very age appropriately.
turned out another kid their mum worked in a funeral home so the conversation just kept going!

Year 4/5 is absolutely fine no issues there at all. It also stopped awkward questions of “ Miss X how is your mum?” As the class clearly knew she was off for that reason.

8 and 9 year olds are not too young to think about death. They will all face death at some point -grandparents, pets…

Good grief, can teachers do anything right in the eyes of some parents??

Not at all. The children will naturally ask where she has been, and she has given them an honest reply.

Perfectly sensible. At 9 they know that people die. It's part of life.

What makes you think the teacher was looking for support or sympathy? It was probably just a statement of fact.

I read that the children were age 4 or 5, and I was going to say I think it is okay to say that someone has died in an age appropriate way. I explained to my kids, 3 and 5, that their friends grandad died recently. I did it sensitively and they understood.

Then I read it was YEAR 4 and 5, which is like 8 or 9? Of course it was okay for your teacher to say her mum died. She is an important person in those kid's life and she was brave enough to show vulnerability and help them develop empathy!

Not too young at all.

My DS understood people died pre reception...he lost a sister

This is the most self absorbed thing I have heard for a while.

My mum died a month ago tomorrow and I’m still signed off work, so I take my hat off to her for being back.

my kids are 8 and 10 and have lost a beloved grandmother and have been very sad. All of their friends are aware.

The pain associated with losing a mum is huge, I can’t imagine it would be a good thing to expect her to pretend like nothing happened. I’m totally supportive of her sharing the reality of her life so that kids may understand that death is a part of life.

I think it's great that children learn that people die, it can happen to anybody (even their teacher!) and that people are honest about it. Why should the teacher lie? Or do you think children should be told that their dog's 'gone to a farm' or 'gone to heaven'? Lying about it is pointless and ridiculous.

Absolutely not and I would send them in with flowers the next time they are in.

No, of course I wouldn’t be upset.

Why? Are you upset about it?

What would you have wanted her to say?

My kids both have friends who have lost parents. It’s unfortunately part of life. Can’t really understand why anyone would lie about it. I hope your child’s teacher is doing okay and some kinder parents organised a card or similar.

9 year olds? You are being ridiculous if this has really upset/annoyed you. Where is your compassion, I really hope you are not planning to raise an issue about it.

No

No. Why would you. Death is part of life.

So… a person who spends 30 hours a week with your child is grieving and suffered a loss, and you’re here moaning about it online rather than suggesting to the class WhatsApp group that you all pitch in a few quid for a lovely bunch of flowers and a sympathy card?

My class of ten year olds were told when my dad died. I asked the head to tell them as it is comforting for children to know where you are and when you’ll be back. I left very suddenly, halfway through a day, then planned to have two weeks compassionate leave. The head told them how long I’d be off for and why. It’s also good for parents to know because, unfortunately, some of them can give teachers a hard time for being absent.

The children were not upset by it, they didn’t know him. When I came back, I just said I was glad to be back and pleased to see them all. Someone asked about it, and I told them I’d had two weeks to be with my mum and siblings, that there were lots of things to sort out, and that although it was all very sad, it had been wonderful to all be together and we’d had a lovely celebration of his life. I didn’t tell them the gory details, nor did I cry to them.

We used to do it better. We bought the person home until the funeral. If you were Northern, one's front room was generally reserved for 'the vicar and bodies', rather than living/playing.
Kids, indeed family and friends viewed/sat with the body. No scariness, no woo-woo. Just a person that once breathed. People mourned, talked about the person, and chose their final outfit.
We used to have professional mourners to attend the funeral (not for Insta moments!)
We've regressed in out attitudes. It's pathetic. We are all going to die.

Wouldn't and didn't bother me at all when DD's teacher was absent for the same reason. We had a quick chat about it, and that was it. Has your child never watched a Disney movie? Or heard of Cinderella or other fairy tales?

I would be very surprised that a child of that age didn't realize that people die.

This is an opportunity for you to have a conversation with your child.

Wouldn't bother me in the slightest, my 9 year old lost her grandfather last year she knows people die, I would rather people said these things you can't shield them forever

The sooner children are exposed to the concept of death the better. Allow them to ask questions, process it, especially if they have pets, because those fuckers are guaranteed to die.
We have to stop this mollycoddling of kids. Raising a generation of uninformed, uncurious children will bugger thexworld more than it is already