Having spoken to teachers and colleagues from other schools, I am very aware of the different reactions that Christchurch Principals and teachers received from parents during the recent lockdown.

In some schools some parents reacted angrily and were quite confrontational with teachers when told they could not take their children home due to the police-initiated lockdown. At Redwood School I was pleased with the common-sense and measured response from parents/whanau members at school, waiting outside school or remaining at home. This helped us maintain a calm and settled atmosphere amongst all our tamariki. Due to this our tamariki suffered a minimum of trauma considering the circumstances of what was going on. Thank you for helping us to look after our tamariki.

We do not take lock-downs lightly. Lock-downs are covered in our beginning of year staff days. We also practice these once a term and debrief each time to determine if we can do things better… we had our practice one week before the real event, so the children and staff knew what to do. We also do the same for earthquake and fire practices.

Bikes and Scooters at School… some simple rules for safety

It is good to see our tamariki walking, scooting and biking to school. I am reminding our tamariki of the following basic rules for biking and scooting to and from school:

1. Bikes/scooters must be in safe condition to ride

2. Scooters/bikes must be ridden safely… on a bike, helmet to be worn. On a scooter, helmet should be worn

3. When entering the school, walk with scooter or bike across the road at the road patrol. Prestons Road is too dangerous to cross on a scooter or bike.  If entering the school at another entrance, walk from school boundary.

4. Come into the school by the pedestrian gate, not through the car park

5. Put your bike in a bike stand and lock it, scooter in the scooter cage

6. After school, scooters and bicycles are able to be ridden (safely) in school grounds AFTER the road patrollers have come off patrol. Currently after school it is chaotic and dangerous with children biking and scooting around the school soon after the 3pm bell… we ask parents to follow this through with their children so that you are supporting us as staff.

7. If a child is deliberately ignoring these simple safety rules they will be asked to leave their bike or scooter at home for a period of time and you will be informed of this. The vast majority of our tamariki are safe and responsible riders, which is pleasing to see.

Thanks for your help with this.

John Stackhouse

Tumuaki/Principal.