FOI: bereavement services

The request was successful.

Dear SEEVIC College,

I am e-mailing to make a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

If you have any questions or need clarification to complete my request, I would be grateful if you could contact me prior to the deadline of 20 working days from receiving my request.

I’m looking for information regarding the bereavement services which are available in your university or college. Please could you answer the following:

+Do you offer special provisions for counselling services for students specific to bereavement? Y/N
+Do you offer any support or counselling services for students? Y/N
+Do you have an institution wide policy/guidance regarding caring for students following a bereavement? Y/N
+Do your policies or practices exclusively relate to support for students who have lost parents or does your support factor in other forms of bereavement, such as losing a sibling?
+Can you tell me what special provision you have for offering extensions and academic breaks in study after a bereavement?
+How much money did you allocate to counselling and support services for bereavement per year (Jan 2016-Jan 2019)?
+If you feel you would like to offer an opinion, would you say your institution feels you are offered enough from the Government in order to support students who have experienced bereavement while studying?

I understand that under the Act, I should be entitled to a response within 20 working days. I would be grateful if you could confirm via e-mail that you have received this request.

Regards,
Georgia Coan + Poppy Damon
[Number Removed]

Yours faithfully,

Poppy Damon

FeedBack Matters,

Good afternoon Poppy

 

I have answered the questions in your Freedom of Information request
below:

 

Do you offer special provisions for counselling services for students. 

 

Yes. We have two full time paid counsellors at our college, we also have
engaged with local universities to give student counsellors placement
opportunities, they support our learners  with  less complex
concerns/issues.  We have a visiting counsellor from a local charity once
a week at our Seevic Campus. The Student Services manager is also a
trained counsellor and provides counselling sessions.

 

Specific to bereavement? Y/N Do you offer any support or counselling.

 

Our counselling is not specific to bereavement but our counsellors are
trained to support young people that are dealing with loss.  In certain
situations students would be signposted to external services such as
CRUSE. 

 

Services for students? Y/N Do you have an institution  wide
policy/guidance regarding caring for students following a bereavement? Y/N

 

No, however when we are informed by the students or their families we
offer support from there, this includes collaborative working with
curriculum and our Wellbeing Team.

 

Do your policies or practices exclusively relate to support for students
who have lost parents or does your support factor in other forms of
bereavement, such as losing a sibling?

 

No it's is general.

 

Can you tell me what special provision you have for offering extensions
and academic breaks in study after a bereavement?

 

This is done on an individual basis working in partnership with examining
bodies.

 

How much money did you allocate to counselling and support services for
bereavement per year (Jan 2016-Jan 2019)?

 

Difficult to quantify as we don’t have a specific bereavement counselling
service.

 

If you feel you would like to offer an opinion, would you say your
institution feels you are offered enough from the Government in order to
support students who have experienced bereavement while studying?

 

As an FE institution funding is being continually cut and it is the
support services that often suffer because of this.  Fortunately at my
college our governing body and senior leadership team appreciate that
counselling and wellbeing support is a crucial part of the student journey
and are looking at increasing our range of internal support, including
implementation of mental health advisor. Not all FE institutions are as
fortunate.

 

Kind Regards

 

Michelle Lagden

Safeguarding and Wellbeing Coordinator

01268 756111 Ext 157