How to break bad news to a y2 class

[Whyisitdarkalready]

Hi all. I'm asking for advice on behalf of my hubby who is a year 2 teacher. Sadly, the ta in his class has miscarried her baby. She was 20 weeks and the class knew she was expecting a baby. This happened over the Easter holiday. The class have not been told and the ta is off for at least a week. My DH will tell the class while she is off, but he is unsure how to do it. It is just so upsetting for everyone and the children will be very upset. Any advice?? Thank you.

I’m really sorry to hear this.

Your DH shouldn’t attempt to broach this alone. Hopefully the headteacher is approachable and empathetic and will support him. He needs to be absolutely sure that it is his TA’s wish for the children to be told and this will need to be handled very sensitively.

Twenty weeks is early to disclose a pregnancy to a very young class but she will have had her reasons. It is important that he explains in simple, direct language, avoiding euphemisms like ‘sleeping’.

The principle is not to overwhelm the children with excessive explanation but to keep it as simple as possible. ‘Mrs X’s baby was poorly and very sadly the baby has died. Mrs X feels very sad. I feel sad too and if you feel sad then that is OK. Mrs X will come back to school when she is feeling better and she is looking forward to seeing you all then.’ Then have an activity to move on to - do not tell them immediately before playtime or at the end of the day. The children are likely to ask questions at home and it would be wise to notify parents but again, this needs to be done with the support of the headteacher and the express consent of his TA.

Thank you, he has said he will ask for advice from the head and obviously the wishes of the TA will be followed. I think the class were told as she kept having dizzy spells and was starting to show so she thought it would be ok to let the children know why. Obviously in hindsight the class should have been kept in the dark, but there were no indications that this would be the outcome. It's just tremendously sad. Thanks again.