Youngsters' lives getting back to normal

Matata Public School principal Raymond Hodgson and pupils (from left), Blair Hodgson, Koby Savage and Laura Brownless talk about the flood. Picture / Alan Gibson

The children of Matata went back to class yesterday.

Fifty-three of 81 students at Matata Public School were present for the first day of class since floods and landslides swept through the Bay of Plenty town last week. The disaster was the only topic of conversation.

Koby Savage, 9, was kept awake all night by the warning bells on the train tracks hit by a slip.

The next morning he and his father went outside and threw a rock at it to "put it out of its misery".

Year 4 student Taiesha Ibbetson said: "My dad got sucked into the water."

The 8-year-old said she felt scared when she saw floodwaters swallow her grandmother's possessions and take out a bridge.

Many pupils arrived at school yesterday on a walking bus, organised by the community to ensure their safety amid an army of heavy machinery clearing mud and debris from streets and homes.

The children strode through school gates adorned with signs saying Kia Kaha Matata (Stand Strong Matata).

The school backs on to land covered in huge slips, but miraculously escaped unscathed, except for a few blocked drains and some silt dumped in a far corner of the grounds.

"Somebody chose very wisely when they put the school where they did," principal Raymond Hodgson said.

He was confident more students would return in coming days as parents heard the school was open.

Earthmovers cleared mud and debris from in front of the school and nearby streets on Monday, and heavy machinery stayed away yesterday to minimise noise for the children.

Mr Hodgson praised the efforts of the equipment operators.

"They've been absolute Trojans," he said.

He was equally grateful to the Fire Service, which hosed and disinfected the school on Monday night.

Public health officials visited yesterday morning to remind pupils of basic hygiene, such as washing their hands. Water filters provided pupils with safe drinking water until authorities give the green light to the town supply.

Group Special Education experts came to the school in the weekend to advise staff on how to deal with traumatised students.

They recommended activities to get the children talking about their experiences.

Teacher Tracy Holm said most of the 8 and 9-year-olds in her class were dying to share their stories.

She asked them to draw pictures of the flood in the morning and planned a drama lesson for the afternoon.

"They just want to talk and talk and talk."

Some of the pupils who did not come to school yesterday were from families evacuated to Whakatane. The school hoped to organise a bus for them with the help of the Ministry of Education.

The town's only other school, St Joseph's, remained closed yesterday.