Child witnessing something awful

[IfIDidintKnowBetter]

My goddaughter aged 13 witnessed an older teen jumping into the train tracks a few days ago outside school hours during a non school-related journey. She saw the whole thing. The police said at the time that school will put suitable support in place, but school have said that they don't have this sort of specialist support, beyond a chat with an adult she trusts. Her gp has also said school will put something in place. What exactly should happen here, does anyone know?

School counselling isn’t really designed for that kind of trauma. I’d give her a week or two to let things settle (she’ll have a very natural trauma response), lots of care and support from people who love her, and then look for a private counsellor who specialises in trauma who can work through it with her.

We have 2 cases of this in our area in the last month, 1 in a place beginning with I, one just over the border. It is so sad that children are struggling with their mental health and it ends up like this. I do hope the schools involved have put in rigorous help.
If she is struggling, really push with the doctor for a CAHMs referral

I agree with @Jellycatspyjamas the school guidance teacher likely isn't trained for this sort of trauma. If an incident happens that affects the larger school they might get a counsellor in which is why you see that dc and staff are reviving this at times. They wouldn't be able to do this for one dc for a non school related incident but that's perhaps why the other professionals are getting confused about a what school offer. They can of course offer support and chat but as above a trauma informed counsellor is probably what you're going to need. Hugs for your dd

She may not be traumatised by it or need any additional support. Trauma isn’t what happens to us, but what happens inside of us as a result of what happens to us. (Gabor Maté).

If she has supportive people around her who listen to her (I mean really listen - don’t assume or jump in, just let her talk and be attentive to what she’s feeling) she might be able to talk it through and process it enough over the coming days/weeks/months.

Counselling is helpful if this support isn’t around her, OR if she hasn’t had that kind of support around her since she was little (developmental trauma) and she struggles to verbalise herself/share her feelings about this event as a result.

So I’m a few months if she’s struggling, if school doesn’t have an appropriate counsellor and if the GP doesn’t help you might be best paying for some private counselling.

Mum and dad must do the legwork here. We can’t wait on schools and HPs anymore. Nothing will happen.
This is a significant trauma (two of my own have been let down by school and GPs with regards to being victims of trauma). My heart absolutely breaks for your goddaughter. What an absolutely tragic and life changing event to witness. Just horribly sad all around.
Private trauma counselling and movement therapy (movement is one of the BEST ways to recover from trauma) is my recommendation. Movement can be qi gong, dancing in the kitchen, dog walks, cycling… movement and breath! Meditation. Box breathing. Any breathing exercises! Guided meditation or yoga nidra on Spotify has been life changing for our family.
Bessel van der Kolk’s The Body Keeps the Score is a good book for parents to read.
💐💐💐

HPs? That should read GPs. 🙄

And then wait two years for the appointment to come though IF she is accepted. Cahmns in this country is broken, don’t pin your hopes on them being any help

Your poor daughter, agree with others above who say that she would need specialist trauma counsellors. Agree that absolutely yes she should be able to talk about it with her nearest and dearest but are they equipped to deal with managing an appropriate response to her?

If the LA has educational psychologists contracted to work with them, part of their remit is to support schools with critical incidents. The GP may be assuming this will happen but not all LAs have EPs now.

We have one Ed psych for our entire city and it's outlying areas which is hundreds of schools. I've been in my job for 3 years now and seen ours once and we have a huge number of support needs in our setting. I'd definitely not be relying on that

That’s why I said the GP might be making assumptions about something which isn’t going to happen.

Also, they’re not there for general support - where LAs have contracted EPs in place, they have two main functions. One is assessments for EHCP referrals as part of the statutory process and the other is critical incident support like this, which basically means when a member of the school community (child or adult) dies traumatically. So if you’re not a SENCO doing EHCP referrals and your school hasn’t had something like this you won’t have seen them. Even then, a lot of LAs have to use private EPs or commission time from other LA services. There’s a national shortage.

@Iwritethissittinginthekitchensink I agree with.
The support of people around her may be enough for her to process and talk it through.
People deal with things differently and may prefer to talk to someone they know and trust aka parents/close relatives.
What an awful thing to witness. I witnessed someone jumping from a bridge when I was younger.
My father is a police officer and unfortunately had saw the aftermath of this a lot. We talked through our experiences and dealt with it that way.

Now schools are nearly all academies they have to buy in the Ed psych time even non academy schools, it’s not a service that’s just available any more

Also, they’re not there for general support - where LAs have contracted EPs in place, they have two main functions. One is assessments for EHCP referrals as part of the statutory process and the other is critical incident support like this, which basically means when a member of the school community (child or adult) dies traumatically. So if you’re not a SENCO doing EHCP referrals and your school hasn’t had something like this you won’t have seen them. Even then, a lot of LAs have to use private EPs or commission time from other LA services. There’s a national shortage.

I'm in Scotland so it's a bit different. We have a massive number of dc with additional support needs that need Ed psych input but the queue is huge. We don't use private or other LA. We are a trauma informed school due to the demographic of the pupils and as far as I know have never had any Ed psych intervention

You’re confusing SLAs with statutory duties (I work in the LA).

Schools buy in EP time for training or if they want a child assessing, yes. However, EHCP referrals that are accepted for assessment at the first panel then have an EP assessment as part of the process and all schools in an LA with an EP service can access critical incident support regardless of academy status. My LA has recently sadly had to provide this to one of our academies.

I'm so sorry for your goddaughter and of course for the older teen. You could also try NSPCC for signposting advice.

Sorry, meant to quote Morph22101 there, wrong post.

In the first instance just let her talk about it if she wants to. Encourage her to do things that make her feel good. It's important to have a period of time to let things settle, see how things are in a few weeks. The evidence is it isn't helpful for people to talk to professionals or have the problem medicalised initially. If she is struggling with it in a couple of months time and experiencing PTSD symptoms then some trauma focused CBT or EMDR might be needed, but she probably won't need it and will just process it in her own way with support from the people that love her.

@GiantCheeseMonster think that reply was for someone else

@Cantbebotheredwithchores my husband lay down under a train. Emergency staff - and their families who support them! - are total heroes. Thank you x

Awful
I work in a school and we constantly hear parents asking us for mental health provision that their GPs, Police and other services have assured them we have.