For tamariki attending kindergartens across Napier and Wairoa, the last few weeks have been some of the most stressful of their young lives.
Ngā Tamariki o Ngā Hau e Whā Kindergarten in Wairoa – formerly known as North Clyde Kindergarten – sustained the most damage of the 16 managed by Napier Kindergartens, and has been yellow-stickered. The kindergarten’s teaching staff, many of whom have been affected by Cyclone Gabrielle’s destruction themselves, quickly found a solution and a temporary space for their tamariki by merging with Wairoa Kindergarten, with the two centres planning to remain combined until repairs are complete at Ngā Tamariki o Ngā Hau e Whā.

Meanwhile children coming to sessions at Eskview and Taradale Kindergartens are often in relief housing, with their families having either lost everything to the flooding or having lost many of their possessions.

General Manager for Napier Kindergartens, Helen McNaughten, says the significance and trauma of the past six weeks has certainly been evident at a number of their centres across Napier and Wairoa. “However our highly trained and qualified kindergarten teachers are aware of each family’s circumstances and keeping a very close eye on our children, as well as their whānau.”

Teachers are, she says, reporting signs of distress in children, “things like being scared when it’s raining, or asking if the water is going to come in. But our teachers know how to reassure children that they are safe, they are cared for, and that their families who are at work or at home during the day are also safe and secure.”

Overall, Helen says, children appear to be processing their trauma well, with some able to very openly discuss how they had to wait on the roof to be rescued or walk out through flood water. “Some of our tamariki are reenacting flood scenarios when they play, which is a healthy way to make sense of what they’ve seen and experienced. And if our teachers see a child suffering quite severe distress, there are agencies available that we are able to refer them and their families through to, if their whānau agree it’s required.”

She says the kindergartens have, in fact, become a bit of a refuge for children – “there’s evidence that the ability to establish elements of a normal routine as quickly as possible is one of the best ways to improve resilience after an event of this magnitude” – as well as for mothers, fathers and caregivers who linger at drop-off and pick-up times to talk and share with one another. “We’ve also been able to allow families who are still without power to bring their washing to our centres and we can put a load through to be clean, dry and ready for them when they collect their child. Our teaching staff have coordinated food parcels for some of our rural families as well. So many of our kindergarten families are grappling with huge losses – of homes, of livelihoods, and in other cases, of the life of a loved one.”

Helen says she’s enormously grateful for the support and kindness of kindergartens outside the region who have rallied to help, as well as donations from educational resource suppliers to replace some of the books, toys and other items lost. Her focus now, she says, is managing the rebuild of Ngā Tamariki o Ngā Hau e Whā Kindergarten and getting it open for sessions once more. “We’re on track to have our beautiful premises dry, repainted and recarpeted in a matter of weeks. While they’re happy and settled at Wairoa Kindergarten in the meantime, we can’t wait to welcome our tamariki and their whānau back to the familiarity of their space and help them mend.”
 

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