Kia ora koutou,
In light of the unparalleled and extremely upsetting events of Friday, we would like to reach out to our families to offer our support and add our heartfelt condolences to those who have lost loved ones. Our thoughts are also with our city and our country as everyone has been impacted by this.
We would like to thank our school community for their support of our students, staff and school on Friday. We acknowledge in particular the care that staff showed for our students while they were in an extended lockdown on Friday afternoon.
As with any large scale event, we will be reviewing our procedures to ensure that everything was done to keep our students safe. An event like this one is unprecedented and shocking.
We are aware that trauma can manifest in many different ways and can affect anyone, whether directly affected or not. The well-being of our students and staff is our absolute priority and we will be paying special attention to ensuring everyone’s needs are met at this time. Our school is being supported by the Ministry of Education with the Ministry’s trauma response plan being implemented to provide schools with support and guidance as needed.
Staff will be carefully debriefing with our students next week and putting in place any school-wide or individual support that is needed. If you have any concerns about your son/daughter, please let your child’s teacher know in confidence so we can discuss how best to support them.
Alternatively, there are city-wide support services available to support our entire community at this time.
It’s important for us to look after one another as a community, talk and be together. No one should feel alone, in dealing with this appalling act of violence in our city.
We need to show each other caring and love.
Kia kaha kia toa, Kia ngakau aroha,
(Be strong, Be brave, Be kind)
Aroha nui,
Jo Malcolm /Rob Callaghan
