Stress Test

I am not sure exactly how this works, but this is amazingly accurate.

The picture below has 2 identical dolphins in it. It was used in a case study on stress levels at the Mayo Clinic and later at Fletcher Medical Center in Burlington.

Look at both dolphins jumping out of the water. The dolphins are identical. A closely monitored, scientific study revealed that, in spite of the fact that the dolphins are identical, a person under stress will find many differences between the two dolphins.

The more differences a person finds, the more stress that person is experiencing.

Look at the photograph and if you find more than one or two differences you may need to take a holiday.

A Celebration of Talent

On Wednesday night we held our first music celebration. This event involved approximately 55 children and attracted a huge crowd for our school of over 100 parents, grandparents, and other family members. We are very proud of all the children's achievements in their growth as musicians and performers - keep up the awesome work team!

A huge thank you to Liz Nichol and Nicky Wuts our amazing music teachers who are making such an amazing difference to our school and community through this superb programme.

The programme for the evening can be downloaded here if you would like to keep it.

We are especially grateful to the team at the Thrift Shop who have supported the school with donations of funds towards musical instruments. Thank you also Bridget and Penny from the PTA who helped provide tea and coffee.

Thank you all for your support.

Champions at Burnham School!

Today I had the pleasure of seeing our senior Under 11s come out on top at the Canterbury rugby tournament! Congratulations lads, we are so proud of you all! Here are some shots of them in action:

A huge thank you to the Dads who supported us - Joe Taipari, Dave McIntyre and Leon Kingi. You guys are awesome.

EQ - Developing Resilience

Recent events have tested everyone in one way or another and are a powerful reminder of how lucky we are, as well as how adaptable we are. This is an area of learning which is of great interest to me because it impacts on all other areas - the issue of developing resilience.

Our school values research indicated that Strength/Self-Belief was one of the top rated values by parents, children and staff. This important value is an essential component of all learning and it comes under the general area of emotional intelligence.

In this week's newsletter I briefly touch on the idea of how our children gain strength. I believe children gain strength/self-belief mostly from the role models around them but they also gain this from the environment in which they develop.

Some of key messages from our Community Support Meeting, run by NZDF personnel last week, included:

1. Children gain their strength from us as the key adults in their lives. This means that if we aren't coping well, this is likely to affect our kids. Get help or ask for it if you need/want it.
2. Every reaction to traumatic events is normal - everyone responds in different ways. Many children may not respond/react straight away, so monitoring our kids for the next few weeks is important.
3. Providing reassurance, love, positive communication and hope are key to learning to become more resilient.

Some authors believe resilience comes into three main areas, as follows:

I HAVE

• People around me I trust and who love me, no matter what
• People who set limits for me so I know when to stop before there is danger or trouble
• People who show me how to do things right by the way they do things
• People who want me to learn to do things on my own
• People who help me when I am sick, in danger or need to learn

I AM

• A person people can like and love
• Glad to do nice things for others and show my concern
• Respectful of myself and others
• Willing to be responsible for what I do
• Sure things will be all right

I CAN

• Talk to others about things that frighten me or bother me
• Find ways to solve problems that I face
• Control myself when I feel like doing something not right or dangerous
• Figure out when it is a good time to talk to someone or to take action
• Find someone to help me when I need it

Some questions you might like to consider over the dinner table:

• How does our environment enable our child(ren) to gain self-belief/strength?
• What is the relationship between making mistakes and developing self-belief?
• How can we work more closely with school to further develop self-belief in our child?
• How does self-belief/strength link in with self-esteem and how can we maximise this?

Here are some great links for further reading that I've found...

If you have ideas please feel free to make comments on this blog post.

Acts of Kindness

Staff and volunteers have worked hard to ensure the school is a safe and nurturing environment as children learn to cope with the aftershocks and how to Drop, Cover & Hold. We've had support from a number of people who I'd like to acknowledge: Steve, Tracy, Zoe, Kelly from BOOST, Paul K, Joe M, Ange and Kala, Jackie, Liz, Sue, Joe T who supplied us with some soldiers who made a huge difference.

The support we received last Friday gave the staff time to prepare for opening this Monday. We've also had additional staff on deck this week to support where required. Please welcome Melissa Lewthwaite as an additional Teacher Aide in our school until the end of term. Melissa is on loan to us from Halswell Residential College.

Burnham School would like to thank the personnel from the New Zealand Defense Forces for their support in helping with clean up after the recent earthquakes. In addition to this support, Plimmerton School has sent us care packages and cards. We greatly appreciate these acts of kindness. Thank you, your support makes a huge difference!

Quote of the Week

Welcome back

There's nothing quite like being a teacher in Canterbury this week - especially after what we've all been through over the last week. Here are some photos of our wonderful children, amazing staff and school:

Plunket Information for Children Under 5

A message from Rica Larkin - Rolleston Plunket Nurse

Plunket services for those families in Burnham with children under 5 yrs.

Currently we are running 4 hubs (or 4 Plunket clinics) which the closest is the Rolleston Plunket rooms 1 John S.t, 3478028. Open 10am - 3pm Mon to Fri.

The other 3 clinics are situated in Christchurch 166 North Parade, Shirley, 5 Twigger St, Addington, and one in Kaipoi. Rolleston Plunket will have 3 Plunket Nurses, myself, Gail Sefton, Chris Steele and a Community Health worker, Debbie Clark.

The purpose of these hubs is to offer support for families who may need it with young children primarily under 12 months of age or families who have any issues or concerns with their children.

Currently Plunket staff are not home visiting until further notice. We do urge parents to seek their G.P re any medical or health concerns.

Also Plunketline is available on 0800 933 922 a 24 hr service 7 days a week.

School Closure - Update 6 - Ready for Action

Just a quick update for everyone. The school is safe and the physical environment has had a thorough clean up today. Huge thanks to the staff team who came in to work the day, as well as a number of parents, BOOST staff, as well as a number of soldiers who helped out. Without this help we may not have been in a position to re-open on Monday.

Now the physical environment is safe and tidied, we turn to supporting, nurturing and strengthening our emotional environment. The team have had a full staff meeting this afternoon to look at the timetable for Monday which is published for you to see, as well as strategies for ensuring we are best-prepared to help our children transition back to school.

We've got access to Ministry of Education and Army camp resources and services for supporting adults and young people who are dealing with trauma. We've also got additional staff on deck on Monday and may have more if required during the week. Our camp padre, Leon O'Flynn, is available to parents on Monday 2-3pm for a chat in the library if you wish, as am I as the principal.

Any parent/caregiver wishing to join their child or children during the day is most welcome, as long as you first sign in at the office. Our procedures are rigorous and we will be training children how to cope in the unlikely event we encounter further events. This training is future-focussed and aims to support children to be prepared and know how to respond. It will also ensure children can talk if they wish to which will help process and move through any trauma.

This is an excellent site to explore with the kids!

We will be posting resources for parents on our web site, along with some homework for the weekend leading up to school on Monday. For Monday all children need to bring and we will be asking for:

1. A full water bottle for drinking.
2. Every family to confirm their contact details including mobile numbers, emails, and emergency contact details. You will be given a slip to confirm or amend.

Rob and the team.

School Closure - Update 5 - Clean Up Friday, Opening Monday

Dear parents/whanau and friends of Burnham School,

I hope you are managing to get some rest and are starting the process of recovery as a family from the events of the last week. We've now managed to get all the essential services required to run the school back 'on line' and are preparing to have our clean up tomorrow.

We've been briefed by Burnham Army Camp psych services and are well-supported by the Commander and his team and are truly appreciative of their support. The padre service and Community Services Officer is available to anyone requiring support, as are the staff of the school. We've been meeting with other groups such as the Ministry of Education traumatic incident response team and other schools to ensure that we are well-prepared to support the kids when we re-open on Monday.

Tomorrow morning at 10am there is a special Community Support Meeting held at the Community Centre (opposite BOOST and down the road from the Four Square) which is open to everyone in our community. I urge you to consider this and take the kids. Check the attached flyer for more information. Also attached is a handout from Civil Defence which is the most up to date advice on coping. We will be producing resources for parents/kids as well as providing you ideas leading up to school starting on Monday.

At 11.30am we'd love 10 or so adult volunteers to support staff in the clean up. We anticipate clean up will only take a couple of hours and should be complete just after lunch time. 

If you are able to offer a hand, please text me on 021 590 572 to indicate who is able to come and bring: a bottle of water, your mobile phone, gloves to protect hands from glass/rubbish.

Sleep well and we'll see you on Monday, if not before.

Rob and the team.

School Closure - Update 4 - School Closed until Mon 13th

Dear parents/whanau and friends of Burnham School,

The decision has been made, in conjunction with Ministry of Education advice and liaison with other local professionals, to close the school until Monday 13th September. No one is allowed to enter the school site without express permission by Rob Clarke the Principal.

If you require support please text or call us:

• Rob - 021 590 572
• Cherie - 021 245 5099

At this stage we intend on initiating the clean up and planning of re-opening process this Friday, however this may change based on other factors. We will keep you informed.

If you have internet at home and want something to do with the kids - why not get them to blog to their class blog a joke or to write a story (clean jokes only please!).

Kind regards,

Rob Clarke - Principal

Ange Colenso - BoT Chairperson

School Closure - Update 3 - School Closed until Wed 8th

Dear parents/whanau and friends of Burnham School,

On behalf of the Board of Trustees and staff team we hope everyone is managing during this challenging time. This is certainly a test of our resilience and ability to cope. The school has sustained minimal damage and is amazingly untouched. There is minimal mess to clean up in most areas, in fact chairs are still on desks!!!!

Please know that we are on hand if anyone in the community requires assistance of any kind, just ask by texting Rob 021 590 572 or Cherie 021 245 5099 and we can help. If there are children who require assistance please also consider asking for our support. Even a reassuring phone call can sometimes help. It may be worth showing your children the photos at the end of this post to reassure them that the school is in great shape!

We have been in close contact with a range of other professionals over the weekend and early this week and have managed to get the entire school assessed for safety. We have confirmed the following:

1. Sunday: a visual check around the school (including playground, walls, fences) and through every space by Ange and Rob.
2. Monday: a thorough check by a structural engineer and a fire safety engineer to check structural integrity of buildings - the whare and hall are closed until we get more in depth assessments completed. Every other space is safe.
3. Monday: checks of water contamination and quality have been undertaken by a qualified water technician - ph levels are good and we are receiving chlorine via the camp water supply. Water pressure is unaffected
4. Tuesday: a glazier has been booked to replace 3 broken windows. We will confirm other elements of our infrastructure today or tomorrow such as electrical supply, communications and sewerage.

While we have declared that the school is safe for staff and adult volunteers to begin the clean up process, given the frequency and strength of aftershocks we believe that it is counter productive to begin this until we can ensure the wider environment is safe and that everyone involved in the clean up has had space and time to ensure the emotional safety of their family. 

The Ministry of Education and Civil Defence have not yet been able to advise us as to the timing of our clean up, so we have decided to delay this and close the school on Wednesday to children. 

Clean Up Wednesday:

• At this stage we intend on staff and a small group of adult volunteers to support the clean up process beginning 1030hrs Wednesday. 
• No adult is to enter the school site without permission from Rob Clarke, Principal. It is essential that this clean up process is strictly controlled and everyone on site is known to the staff team. 
• If you wish to offer help for this, please text Rob on 021 590 572.

On Behalf of the Board of Trustees
Rob Clarke - Principal
Ange Colenso - Chairperson

School Closure - Update 2

Dear Team,

We hope you and your family are all well and managing to catch up on some rest in between cleaning up your homes! Please remember to make contact with Rob or Cherie if you require assistance of any sort and we can put you in touch with those who can help.

In conjunction with the Ministry of Education, Fulton Hogan, the Selwyn District Council and School Support (who manage our property development), we are conducting safety assessments of the school this afternoon. These assessments include the following:

• Structural integrity of buildings, structures such as playgrounds, fencing, walls, etc.
• Water supply and quality
• Electrical circuitry
• Communications - phone system, etc.
• Glass, windows, other fixtures such as shelving and items hanging, etc.

Once this is done we will be in a position for deciding the process for clean up of the school and re-opening. Until that time, no one is to enter the school or buildings or grounds under any circumstance.

Rob Clarke, Principal

Angela Colenso, Board of Trustees Chairperson

Burnham School is closed for Mon 6 & Tues 7 September

We are evaluating safety of buildings and services (e.g. water, electricity) and will decide whether the school can open for Wednesday. We will text and email families, as well as put updates on this web site. The school phone system is not working. Please update your contact details, particularly email, here...

If you require assistance, text Rob on 021 590 572 or Cherie on 021 245 5099. Further information here...

Updated: 6pm Sunday 5th

Being safe, responsible and ethical

During our recent Web Safety Seminar Dean Stewart from Web Safety NZ Ltd talked about three major areas of concern with the internet:

1. Content - the sorts of information our young people can access has changed dramatically and it is much more readily available. Due to technology changing so rapidly, the variety and types of content available has increased dramatically. At school we use lots of different types of content to engage children in their learning, from blogs, to photos and video. This is just a start in this exciting area at Burnham School.
2. Contact - this idea relates to who children have contact with, or who is able to make contact with our children. At school we don't allow children to make contact with anyone on the internet (ie. other schools, parents, organisations) without direct teacher supervision. We teach children to be very careful about what personal information they share. We suggest you encourage children to only ever allow themselves to be 'friends' with people they already know in person. Dean suggests that if your child has a Facebook account, then YOU should also have a Facebook account as their parent AND be connected to them as a friend. Children are only allowed to have a Facebook account when they are 13 years of age.
3. Conduct - the range of activities that we can take part in online has grown significantly. People can chat, email, IM, brainstorm, video, audio conference, just to name a few! Mobile devices will change the way that people interact with the internet and the number of ways to interact is increasing all the time. At school we encourage children to be ethical and responsible in their communication. This means that children need to be taught that how they interact when online is equally important to how they interact when they are face to face with other people. 

Further to the point about conduct, it is important we model that being ethical means never using digital means to deal with problems - ie. we model speaking to the person concerned first. We believe this is really important and that all problems are best solved by talking to the right person, in the right forum. Our procedures for dealing with issues reinforce this concept.

For further reading about what we do at school check our Web Safety Tips page above.