You must monitor and respond to staff psychological wellbeing regularly.

Encourage staff to put their own wellbeing first. Organise for respite or a change of responsibilities if needed.

The school’s return to a normal routine relies on staff having good mental health. This must be promoted and protected in transparent ways.

Staff and their family members can access counselling through their sectors Employee Assistance Program (EAP). EAPs can help staff with a range of personal and work-related issues through short term solution focused counselling. If staff are involved in a Coroner’s investigation, you should contact an appropriate contact for support.

• Government schools can contact the Incident Management Directorate
• Catholic schools can contact the Schools Performance Leader
• Independent schools can contact the Chief Executive.

Coping with feelings of guilt

It is not uncommon for staff to experience levels of guilt about a student’s sudden death.

After someone dies suddenly, it’s possible to read signs in a student’s behaviours that were not seen as significant at the time. Debriefs are an opportunity to acknowledge this.

You should encourage staff to talk with appropriate professionals about their feelings.

Role of your school’s emergency response team

The team should think about what sort of support could help maintain normal school routines.

Extra support

Extra mental health professionals in the school can help with how you respond to parent, carer, staff and student needs. This will lessen the load for your school’s emergency response team.

Brief all outside support personnel about your school’s postvention plan. They must know it and follow it.