Memories – Ideas and Resources to Support Bereavement and Grief for Pupils with PMLD

Most bereavement books and packs are made for children who can read, listen and talk about how they feel. A pupil with profound and multiple learning disabilities needs something they can touch, hear, smell and see, and it has to be about their person, not a badger in a picture book.

Every idea here is something you can make. A memory box or sensory quilt with the person's favourite colour, song or smell. A story massage that offers calm, reassuring touch. A light-up bottle with a tiny motorbike inside, made for a man grieving a friend who loved bikes. There are photo ideas too, from talking albums to pictures printed on fabric, and ways to include pupils in a funeral or memorial.

The same resources work for other big changes, such as starting or leaving school or moving home.