Teaching · Related Services

The right words, when there is no time.

Choose the kind of event, enter only the confirmed facts and the support on offer. The library drafts the family letter, a short text and notes for talking with children, and lists what to check before anything goes out.

Draft the messagesWhat you get

The message drafts

One message set per event. The example event and school are made up.

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What you get

Teaching · Related ServicesFree

What you finish with
Three drafts for one event, ready to adapt and print: the family letter, a short text or phone message, and notes for talking with children, with the checks to finish first.
Who it is for
School crisis teams, school psychologists, counselors and principals.
Format
Browser template library. One saved message set per event; printed with its drafts or as a blank planning form; export and import a file.
Access
Free. No account and no sign-in. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Related Services space in Caveat Teaching.
Support
Questions about an order, access or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.
131the same calm words, in every form
Drawn for this page. The letter, the text and the notes for families all start from the same confirmed facts.

How to use it

  1. Confirm the facts with the family or officials before you write.
  2. Tell staff first, with the same words families will read.
  3. Fill in names by hand on the printed copy; the page keeps none.
  4. Read every message aloud before it goes out.
  5. Send all languages at the same time.

Draft the messages

How the drafts are written

Only what is confirmed

Families share what they receive. A short, accurate message sent early does more to stop rumors than a long one sent late.

After a suicide

National school guidance is to share the cause only with the family’s permission, never to describe the method, and to give families a way to get help, such as 988. The library follows that.

What it is not

It is not a crisis plan. Follow your district’s crisis procedures; these drafts are a starting point your team adapts.

Sources

  1. American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and Suicide Prevention Resource Center. After a Suicide: A Toolkit for Schools, 2nd edition, 2018.
  2. National Child Traumatic Stress Network and National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement. Psychological First Aid for Schools, 2nd edition, 2012.
  3. Coalition to Support Grieving Students. Guidance for talking with children about death and for communicating with families.
  4. 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: call or text 988 in the United States.
  5. Dazzi, T., Gribble, R., Wessely, S. and Fear, N. T. Does asking about suicide and related behaviours induce suicidal ideation? What is the evidence? Psychological Medicine, 2014 (PMID 24998511).

The example event and school are made up. Drafts only; follow your district’s crisis procedures. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.