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.