Respect and resilience: How Liverpool school children are dealing with the death of the Queen

  • Video report by Anna Youssef


A school in Liverpool has been helping pupils learn about momentous events.

For many of the pupils at Knotty Ash Primary School - the Queen's passing has raised questions about death and dying and they're turning to their teachers for answers.

Staff have encouraged students to share their feelings.

One of the members of staff asked the children: "When I say the term death- how does that make us feel?"

One pupil said: "It makes me feel sad because like when I am going to bed the thought of death sends shivers through you but you don't have to worry all your life about death because use your life while you can.

Another pupil said: "It's made me think- some loved ones that go it is very sad and it is hard to get over it and carry on.

"You just have to think to yourself sometimes- not everything can go the way you expect it to go."

A third pupil said: "It's made me feel a little sad because you get a bit worried and you don't want it to happen to anyone else or to you."

A final pupil said: "Sometimes when I think of the Queen I think of my auntie who died because every week I used to go over to her care home and do some dancing for her cos I am really good at dancing and it makes me feel a little sad and happy."


Both deaf and hearing pupils at Knotty Ash Primary have been learning sign language and did a special performance to honour the Queen


Knotty Ash Primary Headteacher Roanne Clements-Bedson said she thinks it's important pupils are taught about death and loss as part of the curriculum.

She said: "They've seen the images of the casket so they have been asking whether the body is in there.

"What will happen to that body, where will it go next. Some don't quite understand why people are upset who don't know her personally, so there's a lot of questions, a lot of concepts of grief and of public service that the children are learning about for the first time really."

When asked about the best approach to take when talking to children about death and dying Ms Clements Bedson said: "We don't use metaphors for death. We are very matter of a fact in how we talk about death.

"But we are very conscious that some of our children have lost relatives very recently so we need to take that into account when we are doing a whole school or a whole class lesson about assembly."


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