Cold pies, but school is back in business

Firefighters minimised damage to Hastings Intermediate School but the gymnasium was gutted. Picture / Hawke's Bay Today

The smell of ash was still hanging in the air as pupils arrived back at Hastings Intermediate School yesterday.

Stepping over a fire cordon at the front entrance, they stared at what was left of their main hall.

And after lining up in the playground, they waited patiently to hear what their principal, Graham Ellis, and vice-principal, Debbie Clifford, had to say.

Ten-year-old Alex Jacques had been hoping for a day off after watching the flames shooting from the building on Tuesday night.

He said: "My mum was going off to the library, but she came racing back to say there'd been a fire at the school. We went down to have a look. The flames were 20 or 30 metres high and my heart was beating really fast.

"I was surprised to see classes will be going on as normal ... I was hoping for a day off."

Alex joined his classmates for what turned out to be a day of relative normality, with lessons going ahead as planned.

Only classroom nine was out of bounds while fire officers and police investigated the scene.

Vice-principal Debbie Clifford told pupils they had to stay away from certain areas for safety reasons and to give workmen space.

The school was left without power yesterday, which meant no hot pies, but she said they would be pulling out all the stops to the school back to normal as soon as possible.

Mr Ellis told pupils he was inspired by the appreciation and caring attitude they had shown.

"Today is a really good day to care for each other. Our staff are also affected by this and we hope to get a letter home to your families to tell them about the large amount of support we've had.

"It's a horrible thing to happen to us, but we are going to deal with it.

"What we can't replace is you, so I'm very glad that there were no people involved. We just have to look after each other and support our teachers so we can get back to normality as soon as possible."

Mr Ellis praised the quick response from the fire brigade and police, and said their level of co-ordination was impressive.

"We made the decision to stay open because we still have enough facilities - and we won't be beaten by this.

"I've received an amazing amount of support from colleagues from other schools and the Ministry of Education," he said.

"One father brought down a generator to light the scene. It just goes to show we will all pull together and rise above this."

- HAWKE'S BAY TODAY