Stories to explore death and bereavement ('Tom's Nine Lives')
Written by:
Michael Jones
Age Range:
4-11 years
What is involved:
Tom Cat is very accident-prone. His animal friends become increasingly concerned as he uses up one 'life' after another. When Tom goes for a long walk and doesn't come back, his friends realise he has no lives left.
An entertaining story exploring death and bereavement, designed to act as a basis for discussion with children aged 4-11 years.
Time:
45 minutes
Extra Information:
'The way in which children and young people are treated when someone important in their life dies has a profound effect on their future ability to manage their own lives. School has a very important role to play in this.'
The Child Bereavement CharityAn interactive story with puppets, lots of action, humour and plenty of audience participation. Ideal as a foundation for discussion about death and bereavement: as an end in itself, and as part of the PSHCE curriculum.
"Ideal as a foundation for us to explore this sensitive issue with individual children and the school as a whole."
Head Teacher, London"Michael's story of Tom's Nine Lives engaged the children in both key stages on lots of different levels and enspired some fantastic and thought-provoking follow up work. For some children the story simply envoked memories of losing a pet but for others it brought to mind the loss of a parent - not only through death, but also through separation and divorce. After the story all the teachers encouraged the children to talk about such events in their lives and draw or paint anything that came to mind. The artwork ranged from a depiction of Kevin the Cat stuck in a post box to a memorial drawing for a child's dad who died when the child was 5. I would highly recommend this story (and Michael himself!) to other schools. The quality of the discussions inspired by his stories is a really positive thing for the children and can only support and enhance any PSHE curriculum."
Michelle Lake, Deputy Head Teacher, Primary School, Watford