The Suicide response and postvention guidelines have been reviewed by a cross-sector working group. The updated guidelines are now:
- online
- easy to read
- mobile-friendly.
They can be found at: http://www.education.sa.gov.au/suicide-response
A student’s traumatic death is a challenging event for any school. It can cause a range of emotional and behavioural responses. Schools must plan carefully when developing the school’s postvention response.
How the guidelines can help
The guidelines help site leaders manage so staff:
- feel calmer
- can think more clearly
- are better able to provide support to students
- know where to get help for themselves and their peers.
The Student wellbeing leader can play an important role in supporting the site leader with this process.
Specific tools and editable templates
The guidelines include tools, scripts and letters that help site leaders.
Being prepared is part of suicide postvention. The guidelines include placemats that allow site leaders to:
- consider how they will inform, support and manage the school
- assign roles to the emergency response team.
One of the placemats focuses on how schools can support Aboriginal students, community and staff. This involves:
- thinking about cultural perspectives
- communicating with Aboriginal Education, Elders and community to seek advice.
Instructions for Student wellbeing leaders
To access the guidelines, student wellbeing leaders can visit the website http://www.education.sa.gov.au/suicide-response .
A hard copy folder will also be sent to every site and education office. Site leaders must replace the old version with the latest version of the guidelines.