Tragic events response team sent to Tisdale school
Elementary school students, staff get help from counsellors after classmates killed
Students and staff at Tisdale Elementary School are getting help dealing with the killing of a woman and her three children.
Police have not released the names, but family members confirmed the woman who died is LaTasha Gosling, 27.
Her children include two girls, Janayah, 4, and Jenika, 8, and a boy, Landen, 7, who have the same surname.
A group of counsellors and outreach workers, called the Tragic Events Response team, have been dispatched to the school the children attended, according to Don Rempel, director of education for the North East School Division.
The team has a plan in place to respond to all sorts of tough situations, but Rempel said this incident is extreme.
I don't know if it's something anyone can prepare for.- Don Rempel, director of education for the North East School Division
"I don't know if it's something anyone can prepare for," he told CBC Saskatchewan's Blue Sky. "Because of the age of the children, they are contacting the parents of the classmates, the homerooms of the victims, and will be preparing the parents to have a conversation with their children after school."
Rempel said because the children are elementary-school aged, the teachers need to be prepared to have age-appropriate discussions with the young students.
"Because of the young age of the children in this case, there's going to be a lot of confusion and they won't have a strong sense on the finality of death."
Rempel said surrounding communities will also have access to information and counsellors. He said before school began on Wednesday, other communities were told about the situation in preparation to help friends, family and extended family.
"When a tragedy like this happens in somewhere like the northeast, the world gets small very quickly."
Rempel said the team will be in place throughout the week.
"I expect today will be a difficult evening when kids go home and they're hearing this news and talking with their parents. Probably the impact will be felt more at school tomorrow and the next day."