A powerful new initiative is set to transform how children talk about death, dying, and bereavement. The project – a collaboration between the universities of Manchester, Bradford and Wolverhampton, Child Bereavement UK and the Child Bereavement Network – features brand new poems by legendary children’s author and former Children’s Laureate Michael Rosen, whose work has helped generations of young readers explore life’s most profound emotions with honesty and humour.
Funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), the 10-month pilot will work with primary schools to create age-appropriate, creative, and compassionate ways to explore life, death, and everything in between.
Using archeology to start conversations about death
Led by Professor Karina Croucher, Professor of Archaeology, Heritage and Wellbeing at the University of Bradford, the project uses archaeology to start conversations around death and bereavement. Professor Croucher says:
“It’s about helping young people to talk about death, dying and bereavement, challenging what is almost a taboo in society. We’re using archaeology and global practices to show how diverse our responses to death can be – and how we can celebrate life in the process.”
Dr Jane Booth, Senior Lecturer in Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Wolverhampton, is part of the team delivering weekly workshops in two primary schools – Wycliffe CE Primary in Shipley, West Yorkshire and St Joseph’s in Sale, Manchester. She says:
“The project is about normalising and validating feelings around death, dying, care-giving and grief resilience. It’s about saying it’s OK to talk about these subjects – and giving children the tools to do so.”
Michael Rosen is writing poems for the project
Beloved children’s author and poet Michael Rosen is writing new poems to accompany the project’s workshops, helping children explore their emotions through creative expression.
“We were delighted that Michael agreed to work with us,” said Professor Melanie Giles from The University of Manchester. “He brings a unique creative compassion to the poems, which we hope will get children, parents and teachers talking – and writing – together.”
The project will run from September 2025 and is open to pupils aged five to 11 as part of their PSHE (Personal, Social, Health and Economic) education. Children will explore not only bereavement but other forms of loss – such as the death of a pet or a friend moving away – through archaeology-inspired art and poetry. Parents will be invited to information sessions and can choose whether their children take part.
A follow up from ‘Continuing Bonds’ and ‘Dying 2 Talk’
‘Lost and Found’ builds on the success of previous AHRC-funded projects, including ‘Continuing Bonds’ and ‘Dying 2 Talk’, which used archaeology to support conversations about death in secondary schools. The new pilot will result in a workshop resource pack for other schools to replicate the approach.
This initiative also aligns with the UK Government’s recent inclusion of grief education in statutory guidance for relationships and health education.
‘Lost and Found’ builds on nearly £100,000 in AHRC funding and follows two earlier projects: Continuing Bonds and Dying 2 Talk. These initiatives explored how archaeology can support conversations about death, dying, and bereavement in non-medicalised, creative ways.
Continuing Bonds brought together archaeologists, healthcare professionals, and psychologists to explore legacy and loss, while Dying 2 Talk co-produced resources with secondary school pupils, using artefacts and workshops to help young people reflect on grief and caregiving through the lens of the past.
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