By Simon Clarke | Posted: Thursday March 21, 2019
"Take care of our children. Take care of what they hear, take care of what they see, take care of what they feel. For how the children grow, so will the shape of Aotearoa." Dame Whena Cooper
If you recognise this quote, then it is highly likely that you were at the very moving vigil at Forsyth Barr Stadium tonight.
It has been a very tough week for everyone in New Zealand, and our thoughts go out to our Muslim brothers and sisters and everyone affected in Christchurch.
We all deal with difficult situations like this very differently. Unlike adults, children have very different needs. They need to know that they will be safe, secure and happy. One of the things that has been emphasised by the Ministry of Education trauma team is the importance of routine and normality so that children can feel safe and secure.
Their other main piece of advice is that families are best placed to deal with trauma at the primary age. We have to be very careful that we don’t impose our values on someone else’s values.
Our number one concern is to keep all of the children safe and secure. The teachers have been monitoring the student's emotions carefully throughout the week and it appears that most of the children have coped extremely well following last weeks tragedy.
We have decided to hold a short school gathering on the front lawn tomorrow (Friday) at 1:40 pm to focus on the school's values, especially that of kindness. We will have a period of reflection where we will ask them who has been kind to them this week, how have they been kind to others and what they will do in the future to be kind. We will not be discussing the events of last Friday.
How we acknowledge tomorrow has been a difficult decision based upon the large number of children who don’t know what has happened or understand why this tragedy has happened, while also recognising that this is a significant event.
Kind regards
Simon Clarke