Update 30 March

Ngā mihi ki a koutou.

Things are settling back into a bit of a rhythm at Freeville School as we all get used to our new surroundings. We are glad that families who had shifted away following the 22 February quake are slowly drifting back to the community and back into school. It is great to see those parents and their children back at Freeville. We must thank the schools who have hosted those families for the amazing care that they have shown.

Fun Afternoon: Youth Alive Trust is organising a fun afternoon for our children from 1pm to 3pm tomorrow. Please come along.

Demolition of Rooms 5-8: As you can see by the photo the demolition of Rooms 5 - 8 has been completed. We are still not allowed to use the car park at this end of the school because the boiler room is yet to be deemed safe and there are concerns about the safety of the asphalt itself.

Library to R4 : Still no word on the future of this block.

Water: The supply of water into the school and consequently the flush-ability of our toilets has been more reliable over the past two days. I am hoping that we will be able to get rid of some of the portaloos soon but we probably need to keep a couple in case of an emergency.

Relocatables: We are on target to occupy at the beginning of next week.

Thanks: Our thanks to Diana Kornel who has been giving massages to staff over the last two days. Diana has indicated that she is happy to give a discounted rate to parents who would like one too! If you talk to Jan in the office she can put you in touch with Diana.

Caravans: We are hoping to borrow three caravans so that we have somewhere to hold our PLP Meetings next term. If you know someone who has a caravan that they can lend us for three weeks please let Jan know.

Concerns: If you have any concerns about your child at school please talk to the class teacher sooner rather than later. It is predictable that behavioural issues that may have been present at the beginning of the year, or even earlier in their time at school, may resurface following a traumatic event. We may need to go back to the interventions that modified those behaviours the first time to get them under control again. If your child has ongoing quake related issues and you are concerned about those please talk to your GP. From our perspective at school it is really important that children get plenty of sleep, that they are well hydrated and that we all communicate effectively with each other.

Summerland's School Donation: Our sincere thanks to Summerland's School in West Auckland who had a mufti day and collected $2084. They have donated this money to The Year 8 Wellington trip. What a fantastic gesture.

Kia manawanui e hoa mā.

John

Update 25 March

Kia ora e te whānau.

We have had a great start back to school. This is just an update on where we are at today.

Relocatables: The refit of the relocatables is going very well. Although the two yellow rooms themselves will be ready for Monday, the amount of workmen still working on the other classrooms, and the resulting safety and noise issues they create, mean that we will be looking to occupy at the end of next week, not the beginning of the week as hoped.

More relocatables: We are agitating for two more relocatable classrooms and will be trying for one as a library. We have to keep in mind though that we are very fortunate to have these four. Some schools who had been promised them this week, who have had the ground marked and services identified, have now been told they aren't getting the ones they were promised as Linwood College and Shirley Boys have been prioritised (30 to Linwood College and 28 to Shirley Boys).

Demolition of Rooms 5-8: I hope that this will be completed over the weekend.

Library to R4: Still no word on the future of this block.

Area outside the Learning Studio: This area is going to be asphalted. I can't tell you exactly when yet but as the ad says, "It will happen".

What Now: The Thompson Home School which ran while school was closed will be on What Now over the weekend. Tune in to see some Freeville Flyers on TV.

Drinking Water: The water in the big green tank has been tested and does not need to be boiled. If you know of people in the community who don't have water on please tell them to come down and take some water.

Have a great weekend.

John

Update 24 March

Kia ora e hoa mā.

We had a great start to the day this morning with the arrival of the Classic Hits crew who had lots of goodies and give aways for our children. There was great excitement for all.

We were also excited to see Campbell and Toby in this morning's Press. What a good looking pair!

Where are we at?

Water: Today we have had a reliable water supply to all areas of the school.

Drinking Water: The water in the big green tank has been tested and the results have come back clear. This means that children can now fill their water bottles from the tank. We will not be locking the taps at night so that it can be used by those in our community who need it.

Toilets: The septic tanks are now hooked up to the toilets by Room 17 and the hall. This means that these toilets will be able to be used as long as we have water for flushing.

Relocatable Classrooms: Two classrooms will be ready for Monday and Rooms 5 and 6 will be able to move in.

Demolition of rooms 5-8: The digger will be in over the weekend to take the building down.

Fun Time: The Youth Alive Trust has offered to run a fun afternoon for the children at our school. We hope that this will happen one afternoon next week. I'll let you know when we have a confirmed date.

Ngā mihi ki a koutou katoa.

John

From Liane Dalziel

February 22 Earthquake

For those of you who are new to my mailing list, I have been preparing Earthquake Information Updates since 4th September last year to help constituents understand the impact of the earthquake and the role of the Earthquake Commission (EQC), the insurers and their respective contractors. I have unravelled the mysteries of the range of rules that apply to the EQC payments and highlighted the reality of a legislative framework that is almost two decades old. I have also held information meetings for affected communities and will get them up and running again soon. My aim has been to learn about what are often quite complex issues and translate them into plain language to help people understand what is happening. I was putting the final touches on my 12th Earthquake Information Update when the Feb 22 earthquake struck. I didn’t hear about the devastation in the central city until I was walking home from New Brighton to Bexley (wading through goodness knows what). At a later time I will comment on those who have gone beyond the call of duty in their service to our communities at this time of need. As there are many people who have been seriously affected for the first time, I will be sending them a summary of where we got to before Feb 22. I have also attached the update I was just completing when the earthquake struck. It remains relevant for all the flood management areas, but in terms of immediate needs this is especially so for Brooklands and Spencerville where they were not so hard hit this time and should be able to proceed with their rebuild/repair programme; as is happening in Kaiapoi, which is under the Waimakariri District Council.

What has the February 22 Quake Changed?

The Land: The land damage has been more extensive this time – it has hammered most of the hardest hit suburbs again (Avondale, Bexley, Burwood/Horseshoe Lake, Dallington) and hit parts of other suburbs harder than before (Aranui & Parklands). It is vital that information about the extent of the land damage is shared with the affected communities as soon as it is available. There is a lot of speculation and rumour as a result of ill-considered comment about whether certain areas can or cannot be rebuilt. We will not know the answer to that question until the land reports are updated and options for remediation (land repair) are re-evaluated.

Many constituents have asked why this cannot happen quickly due to all the work that had already been done after the Sept 4 quake. As you can appreciate there has been much more damage this time so not only does the existing affected land need to be assessed again, there are new areas of land damage to assess.

In addition we need to know what the new land levels are, because that is relevant to managing other risks – especially flood risk. You only need to walk down to the Bexley Wetlands or Horseshoe Lake Reserve to see that the land levels have dropped. It is important to know what the new levels are, because that will impact on what the options are for remediating the land for rebuilding. Land levels are measured from the air using technology called LiDAR which stands for Light Detection & Ranging. Obviously the silt has to be removed first because otherwise there would be a risk that the measurements are not accurate.

I will continue to advocate for our right to full transparency so that we know the future of our suburbs as soon as soon as that information is available. Please do not listen to the rumours – check with me first. I am following up issues with the relevant authorities on a daily basis.

Community Meetings

I have been asked when I will be holding community meetings again. As you know Civil Defence/Council are holding meetings on social support (Recovery Assistance Centres), public health and infrastructure, (power, sewerage, water, roads and things like port-a-loo/chemical toilet allocation). Rather than adding another set of speakers to meetings that are already crammed with information, I have decided to maintain my focus on the land, including mitigation of other hazard risks (especially flooding); the proposals for perimeter treatment around the waterways (Stage 2 Report); the roles of the EQC, the insurers and their respective contractors; and last but not least the need for communities to be actively engaged in the recovery process.

Last week Cr Chrissie Williams & I invited community leaders, including resident association representatives, and a range of community organisations, churches and agencies to a meeting in order to start the recovery process in the eastern suburbs. I will provide a specific update on recovery once the new city-wide governance arrangements for recovery have been resolved. There was a major flaw post the Sept 4 quake in that no-one was leading the recovery and there was no recovery plan. This time we must get it right with the community at the heart of the planning process. I will be working in partnership with councillors Chrissie Williams & Glenn Livingstone, as well as your community board, to ensure this happens.

The Buildings: Earthquake Commission (EQC) 0800 DAMAGE www.eqc.govt.nz

The Feb 22 quake is a separate event, which means if you have suffered more damage you must lodge another claim.

Rapid Assessment Project: EQC has commenced a rapid assessment of Christchurch households. These 15-30 minute assessments are placing dwellings into damage categories with the timeframe for when EQC will be coming back for a full assessment. EQC appears to have learned the lesson of the first earthquake, which is that people need timeframes.

Houses with severe structural damage will be revisited for a full assessment within four months. Those needing repairs of more than $100,000 + GST will then be passed on to the homeowner’s insurance company for follow-up.

Houses with minor structural damage will be revisited for a full assessment within four to six months.

Houses with no structural damage will be revisited for a full assessment within six to nine months.

Think of the EQC Rapid Assessment as a triage approach which establishes the level of urgency with which your property needs to be seen – ‘the worst are first’. In a hospital setting a ‘triage’ nurse quickly assesses patients as they come in to ensure that urgent cases are dealt with immediately and less urgent cases can wait without compromising safety.

The Rapid Assessment teams are also identifying the need for emergency repairs – to keep the house secure, sanitary and weather-proof. You can self refer for this service as well - call 0800 DAMAGE to get your EQC Number and then call your local Fletchers hub office to get those repairs done – for Burwood/ Pegasus the number is 3419979.

The main issue that constituents have raised relates to a rapid assessment not picking up the severe structural damage that can only be seen inside the house. I was glad I was home when my house was visited, because my house looks good from the outside, but has obviously sunk when viewed from the inside. If structural damage has been missed please call 0800 DAMAGE and inform the call centre. If you do not get a satisfactory response please let my office know either by email or phone.

lianne.dalziel.mp@parliament.govt.nz

Ph 382 0288

Classic Hits Coming Tomorrow

Haere mai, nau mai, haere mai.

Come down to school tomorrow morning. The Classic Hits 4wd's will be at school in the staff car park giving out a few goodies from 8.30am tomorrow.

Update 23 March - Thanks

Kia ora koutou.

At Freeville School we have been astounded by the thoughtfulness and generosity of many the many schools throughout New Zealand who have sent us gifts, letters and cards.

Most people will know about the fantastic container load of care packages that arrived from Hastings Intermediate while we were closed, and the BBQ that they arranged for our community. That was an amazing day.

On our first day the children were given individual gift packs sent by Postgate School in Porirua. This was an awesome way for the children to start back at school. My son Ted called it, "Gift Day". It made what could have been a very nervous time, a very happy one.

Thank you letters to Postgate School

Children open their packs from Postgate School.

We have also received letters and cards from one of our past teachers, Fleur Tuck nee Cutforth's, class at Auckland Diocesan School for Girls and from the schools that have sent us the relocatable classrooms.

This afternoon our children enjoyed a performance from the Minstrel. This was arranged and paid for by Glenbervie School in Whangarei. You may remember that this is Tania Luke's (our new Team Leader) previous school.

We are very grateful to all the schools who have been so generous to us and our community.

Update 22 March - We're back

He mihi matakuikui ki a koutou katoa.

We're back and we're underway - and it's great. It's not perfect, but it's still great to have the children back at school and to be able to reconnect with our parent community. I really enjoyed having a coffee with a number of our parents yesterday morning and having a chat.

What's not perfect? Our water supply is still a bit iffy and we have been losing it off and on since we started back. This has affected our toilets and our children have, for short periods, had to use the portaloos. They are far from perfect so we want to minimise that necessity as much as possible.

To that end we have had plumbers, drainlayers and City Care on site trying to get to

the source of the problem.

Part of our issue yesterday was that the contractors who are putting in the relocatable classrooms kept on nicking the water pipes with the auger they were using to drill holes for the piles. Now that the holes for the piles have all been finished we are hopeful that today will see a more reliable water supply.

We were told that the relocatable classrooms would take 20 days. Then we were

told that they would be ready on the 29th of March. They are now on site and

due to be dropped on to their piles shortly, but I can't see them all being ready for the 29th. I hope that I will be pleasantly surprised. As you can see from the photos they need a bit of work before we can put children into them.

Demolition of Rooms 5-8

This work is well underway although I had hoped that the building would have been down before the children returned to school. The power lines outside the front of that car park and entrance are causing a complication as they have dropped and the demolition contractor is unable to get his digger in until they are tightened.

In the meantime they are ripping everything out of that block that they possibly can.

We are still waiting to see what will happen with the Library to Room 4. A report is due in today so we should have an indication either today or tomorrow about what will happen there.

The Best Day Ever

On a good note we were stunned by the generosity of Postgate Primary School in Porirua who sent an individual gift pack to every child in our school yesterday. This made a huge difference to the our children and lifted their spirits immensely. We were a bit worried bout the children coming back to school and what their reactions might be. To have children describing their first day back at school as "the best day ever" was a huge relief. All our children send a huge thank you to the staff, children and community of Postgate School. Tau kē!

Community Briefing

Kia ora, the Community Relations Team for the Christchurch Earthquake Response Team of the Christchurch City Council have asked us to share the link below. We would appreciate it if you would also share this with your school and or early childhood service community.

The notice advises of a second round of community briefings which have been scheduled for the week beginning 21 March. The briefings will provide an earthquake recovery update, local information and an opportunity to ask questions on an informal one-to-one basis.

An invitation is extended to attend any one of the community briefings scheduled. It is best to attend your nearest briefing if you can because there will be some local content as well as general relevant information.

website: http://canterburyearthquake.org.nz/

Many thanks for your assistance, Christchurch Team of the Ministry of Education

Update 17 March - We're on target

Kia ora koutou

We remain on target to open on Monday morning and look forward to seeing you and your children again and getting underway.

A couple of key things to think about:

• Some classes are in a different place than they were previously so please make sure your children know where they are. Room 6 is in the staffroom, Room 7 is in Room 13, Room 8 is in Room 16 and Rooms 3, 4 & 5 are all in the hall.
• Children will need to bring bottled water for Monday and Tuesday until our drinking water tank is filled. We will have some water available if you forget.
• It will be a good idea to try to get your children to go to the toilet before coming to school. The septic tank and pump system will be installed by Monday night. In the meantime our toilets will be usable on Monday but we should use them as little as possible (no one's too sure where the flow goes!). The Ministry of Education have insisted that we have port-a-loos on site. We have some concerns about port-a-loos so will be doing our best not to have children using them except as a last resort.
• The February quake reminded us how important it is that our contact details are up to date. This will be especially important now that many people have had to move. We will be sending a contact details update form home on Monday. Please send it back asap.
• We know that travelling around town is very slow at the moment. If you think that you will have difficulty or will be putting yourself under pressure to get to school at 3 pm consider using the OSCAR After School Programme. You can use make casual bookings if you need to. Contact Sarah on 021 337 438 or Nicole on 027 464 4742.
• A number of our entrances to school are no longer usable. The ones you can use are the gate on to the field off Wattle Drive, the gate on to the field from Willryan Ave, The gate between the Dental Clinic and the staffroom. Please DO NOT cut through the staff car park. We don't need anyone getting run over.
• All unclaimed bags, scooters, jackets etc will be laid out on the hard court in front of the adventure playground so that they can be collected on Monday morning. If your child's lunch box was left at school and not collected last Tuesday then it will have been thrown out as those lunch boxes were maggoty and smelly.
• Please join us for a coffee on Monday morning from 8.30am. A mobile coffee cart will be providing free coffee to parents.
• Remember that your child will look to you for a signal on how to behave on Monday morning. If you are positive, happy, and confident - even if you are only pretending - they will be too.

We're really looking forward to our new normal and will enjoy having a coffee with you on Monday morning.

Have a restful weekend

John & Karen (BOT Chair)

Update 16 March - Steve for GG!

Steve our property manager is making a good case for being the next Governor General. He has been working like a trojan since the quake to get us open on Monday. He really is going above and beyond the call, and we are exceptionally lucky to have him working at our school. Today he has:

• Supervised a PD gang who have been cleaning up the last of the liquefaction around the school and cleaning up the streets around school.
• Co-ordinated workmen who have cut the trip hazards out of the asphalt. These will be filled tomorrow.
• Been liaising with drain layers and City Care to try to get our water supply to the school sorted.
• Worked with the builder to shoot levels in classrooms.

The water supply continues to be a problem for us. We have a 30 000 litre drinking water tank coming so that won't be a problem. The issue we have is securing a water supply so that we can flush toilets. In this regard we are like much of our local area. City Care are working to fix one leak, to apply water pressure, to then locate another leak, and so on.....

We have another Project Meeting tomorrow morning so we will be discussing our options then.

Following our Project Meeting we are having a Staff Only Day. We will be planning for starting back and making sure that we are able to support our children as they return to school. The Traumatic Incident Team from the Ministry of Education will be presenting to our staff and helping to answer any questions that they may have. Staff who attended a professional development session with Auckland University last week on learning through the Arts for children who have suffered trauma, will be sharing what they learnt with the rest of the staff. 

On Monday morning we have organised for a mobile coffee cart to come to school. They will be providing free coffee to parents. We hope that you will come along and have a coffee and a chat from 8.30am. They say that adults typically hit their low point 4-6 weeks after a traumatic event. It will be extremely important that we keep an eye on our friends and that they keep an eye on us as time passes. I hope that you will take this opportunity to come along, connect with others, offer friendship and support; and get it in return.

He waka kotuia kāore e tukutukua ngā mimirā - The canoe that is interlaced will never be broken.

Look after yourselves, keep safe.

John

Update 15 March

Ngā mihi ki a koutou katoa.

This morning we has another Project Team Meeting. From that meeting I can tell you:

• Our sewerage pipes are full of silt. We are having these vacuumed to try to clear them. As we have little faith in the integrity of the sewerage system both within and outside the school we are also having a tank and pump system installed that will enable the junior toilets by R17 and the hall toilets to be used. This must be in place to use on Monday.
• Water - Is on but the water pressure is very low coming in  off Sandy Ave. 
• Phones - are now operating.
• Power - is on.
• Demolition has started on Rooms 5-8. The stripping out of that block is underway. We expect that it will be substantially demolished by Monday.
• The floor levels in the Library, Resource are and Rooms 3 & 4 are being taken again. They will then make a decision on whether they repair or replace.
• 2m high fencing is on the way and will be installed by Monday.
• The relocatable classrooms will be on site on Sunday night. We have been told that these will be ready for occupation on March 29th - earlier than we thought.
• Steve has marked the trip hazards on the court and these will be removed.
• A number of our large trees are to be removed as their root planes have been compromised by the earthquake. This includes the two large blue gums on the back field, the tree near room 8, the tree next to the Learning Studio, and the large tree behind the hall. The other trees are deemed to be safe.
• The holes in the field are to be filled with top soil.

We are still, at this point, on target to start on Monday March 21st. The only things that can stop us at this point are sewerage and water. We have another meeting on Thursday morning before our Staff Only Day commences so I will update again as information comes to hand. I am optimistic that we will be OK and ready to go on Monday.

Your children will need to bring their own bottled, safe drinking water to school on Monday.

Keep safe.

John

Update 14 March

Kia ora koutou.

Today we had builders on site! Hooray!

Things happening today:

• We finished emptying the resource room and have put the reading resources onto the library shelving that has been moved to the back of the hall.
• Isabel's office was emptied.
• Room 6 has been moved to the staffroom. All classes have now been moved to where they needed to be moved.
• Resources not needed in the short term have been put into a container.
• Konica Minolta came and moved the photocopier from the resource room to the APs' office.
• We have salvaged a few items from Rooms 5-8.
• The builders have been working to ease the doors and seal off the library and resource area.
• A camera has been put down through our sewerage pipes to see if they are intact.
• We have located a break in our water main.

Things we are working on:

• We still have no power coming in to the school off Sandy Ave and are working on getting an answer (not from the answer machine) from Orion.
• Getting a drain layer to come and repair our water main.
• Getting an answer about our sewerage situation.
• Getting a date when our Room 5-8 block will be demolished. We want this to have happened before the children return to school but the Public Holiday on Friday doesn't help us.
• We need to access two more containers - one for maths resources and one to use a PE shed. These have been ordered.
• Getting an answer on what will happen with the Library to Room 4. Repair or rebuild?

OSCAR After School Programme Continues

The Oscar After School Programme will continue as usual when school commences. It will be based in our new Learning Studio not in the hall.

We have a Project Team Meeting tomorrow so I will update again after that and as new information becomes available.

Learning Hubs

The following information was posted at 4.35pm this afternoon:

Information about learning hubs open for students of schools not opening this week.

Some primary and intermediate schools will not be able to reopen this week. Learning hubs have been set up to support education for children enrolled at these schools.

The Learning hubs will be open from 9am to about 3pm but hours may vary depending on a community’s circumstances. They will be set up in the halls of the following schools:

• Sockburn Primary School
• Addington Primary School
• Somerfield School
• Waltham Primary School
• Paparoa Street School
• Windsor School
• St Albans Primary School
• Mairehau Primary School 
• Cashmere Primary School

The hubs are managed by experienced and registered principals and teachers who will be providing learning materials, stationery and other educational resources.

Parents with children who are unable to attend their own school should take them to the closest school hub and provide registration details. Parents seeking more information can call the Ministry helpline on 0800 225 580.

Sorry no more info

Sorry folks. I was told that information regarding the locations of the Learning Hubs would be made available today but its 8.40pm, the Crusaders are up 40-10, but there is no more information.

When I know, you'll know.

Sleep well.

John

Update March 11

Kia ora whānau.

You will be aware that a number of parents from across Christchurch have been enrolling their children at schools both in other towns and in parts of Christchurch that have been less affected by the quake.

As you can imagine this has caused a number of issues for the schools who have had an influx of students, the Ministry of Education that is trying to resource those schools without penalising damaged schools, and those of us who are damaged and will need to work out who we have returning and when.

Schools in Christchurch are now being asked not to enroll any more students from damaged schools. Instead the Ministry of Education is starting, on Monday, nine Learning Hubs based at nine schools with classroom space.

These Learning Hubs will provide meaningful engagement for children whose parents are desperate to see them back in learning. As soon as their usual school re-opens, it is expected that they will return to that school. They are for families who really need their children occupied to allow them freedom to work, or sort out shattered lives. Families who can, should continue to support children at home, and a range of resources will be online next week to help parents with this "home schooling" option.

I am expecting that the process for accessing these learning hubs, and their locations will be published later today and will update this blog entry when that information becomes available.

Keep safe.

John

Update March 10

Kia ora koutou.

Despite the fact that we have no children it has been another busy day at Freeville School today.

This morning we had a meeting with our project team. From that I can say:

• We expect the builders to start work tomorrow making repairs to our least damaged areas so that they are ready and safe for children to use.
• We had the insurance company's structural engineer on site this morning. He has given the go ahead for rooms 5-8 to be demolished and we expect that this will take place next week so that it is done before the children return.
• The sewerage experts or whatever you'd call them are writing a report on the state of our sewerage system. We expect that this will result in a septic tank and pump system being put in.
• What will happen with the library to Room 4 is still undecided. The engineers all say that repairing those spaces will require a lot of work and may be uneconomical. The final decision will come down to a cost analysis of whether it is cheaper to repair or rebuild.
• The relocatable classrooms leave Dunedin tomorrow. They will be going on to the grass area behind Rooms 17, 13 & 14. It is our continued expectation that these will be ready after the Easter holidays.
• I understand that water is on in the street but that we have a mains problem within the school so still have no water.
• We have power to the hall because it comes in off Willryan Ave. The rest of the school still has no power as there is an Orion problem at the entry point to the school.
• The trip hazards in the concrete and asphalt will be removed by the builders.
• We will be having our large trees looked at to make sure that their root systems have not been compromised and that they are still strong and safe.

Today at Freeville:

• Bags were made available betweeen 11 am and 12 noon.
• The large areas of liquefaction were removed.
• The library shelves were taken down so that we can transfer our resources to them after they have been put up in the hall.
• We boxed up and moved resources, tables and chairs to the storage containers.
• We ripped up carpet so that it can be used in the hall.

Tomorrow a number of our staff are going to a professional development course to learn about how to assist children to deal with traumatic events through the medium of art.

On Monday we will be moving Room 6 to the staffroom, and what can't fit into a container; and emptying the resource room completely.

Memorial Service at Hagley Park

I know that next Friday the Christchurch City Council and others are planning a memorial service at Hagley Park followed by a walk through town.

I am sure that many people will find this a useful event and it may help them to rationalise and process the events that have taken place over the last couple of weeks.

My request to you is that you think very carefully before you take your children along to this event, in particular the walk through town. My wife is going to attend the service and walk; but we have decided that our children will not be, particularly our youngest children. Ted and I will be staying home. This is not because we don't think it is important. It is because in our opinion he doesn't need to see all that damage and to be reminded of the power of the earthquake. He was traumatised enough.

So please think carefully about whether going along will be a helpful or unhelpful experience for your children, and then make the decision you think is best.

Hei kona, keep safe and well.

John

The Big Clean Up

For the last two days our staff have been hard at work. There has been much to do. Given that Rooms 5-8 are to be demolished, and Rooms 3 & 4 require significant remediation, those rooms have had to be completely emptied. You might find it a bit hard to believe but some teachers are compulsive hoarders. You never know when they might need that book from their childhood, or that roll of paper that was donated two years ago! In addition the whole library has had to be stored in a container.

So for the last two days the teachers and support staff have been moving furniture, packing books, lifting carpet, packing, cleaning and organising.

We have gone from this:

To this:

Thanks to a bit of this:

Room 7 now looks like this:

At one point the hall looked like this:

But now looks a bit more organised:

Tomorrow, we're tackling this!

We're looking forward to seeing those parents who can make it to school tomorrow, in the Learning Studio car park, between 11 am and 12 noon to collect school bags.

Keep safe and well.

John

Update 9 March - Collect Your Bags tomorrow

Kia ora koutou

Bags, jackets etc left in the cloak bays following the quake will be available for you to collect from the Learning Studio car park from 11 am to 12 noon tomorrow, Thursday.

We also have some care packages left from yesterday that will be available for you to take.

If you can't get there don't worry. We will look after the bags until they can be collected.

Hei āpopo
John

What a Great Day

Mōrena koutou.

What a great day it was yesterday at Freeville School, due to the generosity of our new whānau from Hastings.

It was great to catch up with many of our school community, most for the first time since the quake. It was also fantastic to have other members of our community in our school. School is part of the community and the community has never been more a part of the school than they were yesterday.

I must acknowledge and thank Gerard and Andrew from Hastings Intermediate for bringing the container of goods to us; their school community, the other schools who contributed, and the sponsors who donated product and services to make yesterday's distribution of care packages possible. You are now well and truly part of us.

Thanks also to Henare and the team from Tunutunu who provided the free BBQ lunch. You guys are amazing.

He waka kotuia kāore e tukutukua ngā mimira. The waka that is bound together will never be broken. You are now bound to us.

He mihi maioha, he mihi whakawhetai, he mihi matakuikui ki a koutou katoa.

John

Andrew and Gerard with the Freeville Team.

Emptying the container.

Update 7 March - Please note change of time for collecting Care Package

Ngā mihi ki a koutou.

Important Note: Remember to come to school tomorrow morning from 12 noon to collect a Care Package from Hastings Intermediate School. Please note the change of time!

This morning we met with the structural engineer to look at our buildings so that we could get an idea of a path to reopening. The structural engineer said that in his opinion:

• The staffroom and admin area can be made ready for use with a week and a half's work. (A lot better than was first thought!)
• That the resource room, library, and Rooms 3 & 4 can be repaired. He estimates that this is a big job that could take ten weeks of work. 
• That Rooms 5-8 need to be demolished and replaced.
• That a week and a half's work will see the hall, Rooms 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 and the new Learning Studio ready for use.

(The structural engineer's opinion, particularly in regard to the staffroom to R4 block and the R5-8 block now has to be peer reviewed by the Insurer and agreed to by the Loss Adjuster. They could decide that it is too expensive to repair Rooms 3 & 4 and more economical to build new.)

From the structural engineer's feedback we have set Monday, March 21st as our likely opening date and will be working towards that. 

We have four relocatable classrooms ordered for our school but they will take 20 days to be ready for occupation from the time they arrive.

A March 21st reopening means that we have three weeks and four days until the Easter Holidays. We expect that the relocatable classrooms will be ready when  we return to school after the Easter break.

We have to be Freeville Flyers and be creative, caring and adaptable, particularly for the three weeks and four days of school up till Easter, to get school up and running. Our thinking at present is that:

• LT3 (Rooms 3, 4, 5) will all be in the hall for three weeks and four days. 
• Room 6 will be in the Staffroom for three weeks and four days. Then they will move to a relocatable.
• Room 8 will be in Room 16.
• Room 7 will be in Room 13.

This means that we are able to keep all children whose classroom is not badly damaged in their own room, we keep all our children at our school, and we are not having to double shift any classroom spaces or reduce teaching time. While it is not ideal to have three classrooms in the hall it is the best option available to us at present, and is only until the relocatable classrooms are available.

LT3 Camp - This will not be going ahead at this time. We will look at options to provide a camp experience later in the year.

Care Package Collection and BBQ -  I hope to see those who can make it, at school, from 12 noon tomorrow. It will be great to see you. Please note that children are not allowed to be in the school grounds. This is a Civil Defence rule. They can come in to the Learning Studio car park where the Care Packages will be given out but cannot go beyond there. It's just not safe. 

School Bags etc - These will be available for you to collect from the Learning Studio Car Park between 11 am and 12 noon on Thursday. If you can't make it don't worry. We will look after them until you are able to get to school to collect them.

Look after yourselves.

Kind regards

John

Update 6 March - School is one of the safest places your children can be

Mauriora koutou. I hope that you have had a good weekend and have managed to relax somewhat.

Tomorrow we meet with the structural engineer and our Project Team to discuss what will happen with our two most damaged blocks. I am hopeful that at this meeting we might be able to get an idea of a timeline towards reopening.

Our staff is meeting for lunch off site tomorrow. This will be our first get together as a staff since the earthquake and I will be thanking them on our parents behalf, and as a parent of Freeville School myself, for their outstanding work on the afternoon of the quake. They were all amazingly calm in what was a highly stressful situation. I find it quite incredible that we had only two minor injuries (a bumped arm and a skinned knee). Honestly we have more injuries in a normal playtime. There are 70 000 school children in Canterbury and I have heard of no serious injuries inflicted on any children who were at school. School is still one of the safest places that your children can be - and I think we need to remind ourselves that fact.

Depending on the discussion tomorrow I am hopeful that we may be able to have adults on site on Tuesday. This will allow us to tidy the undamaged rooms and plan for the recovery of resources from the damaged spaces on Wednesday. This will depend on the structural engineer.

Our staff will be brainstorming some options for getting school going while we wait for our relocatable classrooms to arrive and be made ready for use (about 25 days). There is no way we are waiting that long before getting underway so will be discussing how we can be creative with the spaces that we have like the hall and our two spare classrooms R16 and R13.

I'll update you tomorrow evening on how the day and the discussions and decisions go.

Nga mihi ki a koutou. Keep safe.

John

Update 5 March - Come to School Tuesday Morning

IMPORTANT - You need to come to school from 11 am on Tuesday. 


Hastings Intermediate has fund raised for our school community and have put together 400 packages of water, blankets, hand sanitisers, food, lollies and other items for distribution. This will happen from 11 am on Tuesday. Members of the Hastings Intermediate staff will be in attendance, they are putting on a BBQ and will be distributing the packages. 


Over 3000 food items were donated from the school’s student body alone.  They also had numerous donations from their wider community beyond their school. Major supporters have been Conroy Removals, Hygiene Technologies, R J Liquorice and Watties.  They have also received many items from Taradale Intermediate, St Matthews Primary School, Te Mata Primary School, Hastings Boys High School, CHB Schools and businesses along with several of their local preschools. It is estimated that the total value of items donated is in excess of $50000.

We are very grateful to the Principal of Hastings Intermediate Andrew Shortcliffe, his staff, students and the Hastings community for their generosity and their hard work.


Have a look at their website: http://www.hastingsintermediate.school.nz/uncategorized/christchurch-appeal/

Just add water

Hi all.

As many people will know Grant has been driving over to Freeville with his water tanker every second day since the earthquake. I know that this has been a life saver for many people and we send Grant a huge vote of thanks on behalf of the Freeville community. I came over to school with him today and many people commented that they would rather have water than power, so his contribution has been very important and generous. Thanks also top Rachel and Aroha who have helped Grant on various days.

Grant and I will be back on Sunday morning, so if you are in contact with people in the area around school, or you are there yourself, please come down to school and grab some water. There are a number of bottles left in the car park today, and some wheelie bins filled with water so you can fill a bucket or two.

Let's hope it is not too long before running water is back on.

Update 3 March

Hi all.

The Ministry have republished this morning the following statement:

For schools and ECE services in Christchurch City only

All schools and early childhood services in Christchurch City must remain closed until further notice and follow Civil Defence advice about the conditions of the state of emergency.

For schools, closed means boards, principals, staff and students must not enter the buildings and grounds of schools and business in Christchurch City until the Civil Defence orders are amended. This also applies to school properties in Christchurch City that have been inspected by the Ministry of Education. This also applies to schools being used by Civil Defence.

So I guess the Ministry's request that schools be looked at on a case by case basis to allow for the recovery of resources and furniture has been turned down by Civil Defence. 

They say patience is a virtue.

Update 2 March

He mihi nui ki a koutou katoa.

This morning we had our first Project Team Meeting and I came away very encouraged, both by the people we have involved in our team, and by what was discussed.

Our team is made up of Steve our Property Manager, Paul our AP, Karen Brandon our BOT Chairperson and I from the school; Gill Maher and Rae Karipa from the Ministry of Education, and John Sinclair our Project Manager. I was also very encouraged by the news that ConstructA will be our building firm and that our contact with them is Hamish Hunter who was the foreman on the redevelopment of our junior classrooms. Hamish is an excellent guy and I'm really glad that we will be working with him.

We are moving now to "control the controllables". I say that because some things are, at the moment, out of our control. We can only effect the things that we have some control over. As time progresses issues will move from being "uncontrollable" to "controllable," and we will be able to start work on them.

At present the things we are working on today are:

• Getting our server going so that our website is up and running.
• Getting clearance from Civil Defence to empty our damaged areas of resources and furniture.
• Getting hold of some shipping containers to store resources.
• Booking in some of the student army to help with shifting the resources and furniture.
• Procuring three relocatable classrooms.
• Fencing off the two damaged blocks.
• Addressing immediate dangers e.g. we have pulled down the ball wall which was moving in the wind today!
• Getting the Farmy Army to remove liquefaction around the school.
• Investigating the possibility of a septic tank and pump system for sewage.
• Investigating pumping water from the bore that was used before the school went on to the town supply.

Engineers' Reports etc

So far we have had: 

• A visual inspection from a Project Manager from Arrow. This prioritised us for a structural assessment.
• An initial inspection from two Structural Assessors.
• An assessment from the insurers.

We now need to have:

• A full Structural Engineer's report on the buildings. This will tell us if, as recommended by the two previous inspections, the staffroom to R4 block, and the R5 to R8 block need to be demolished.
• A Geotech report on the structure of the ground. This will tell us if the ground is safe.

When these happens is out of our hands, we just have to wait for them to take place.

I'll keep you updated as further information comes to hand.

Our thoughts, as always are with you and your children. Keep safe.

Keeping the Kids Learning

I know that you will be concerned about keeping your child learning while they are not at school. The Russley School website,  http://russleywebsite-onlinelearning.wikispaces.com/  has some excellent links and resources that you can try.

The Ministry of Education website www.minedu.govt.nz also has useful ideas and tips for children at each level. The site is also updated with schooling information following the earthquake.

Update 1 March

Mauriora.

The eighteen worst affected schools in Christchurch had an initial meeting with the Ministry of Education today to discuss the path towards reopening our schools.

Each of the schools present has now been allocated a Ministry representative to co-ordinate a Project Team that will work towards reopening. We have our first meeting tomorrow morning. As mentioned previously a number of issues need to be ticked off and dealt with before we can get underway. One of the essential things is sewerage; and one of the messages that we were given today was that the Ministry of Health are against the use of port-a-loos in schools. Other options, such as septic tanks and pumps, have to be investigated. This will not happen quickly.

Therefore we can say that school will not be reopening before the 14th of March.

I do want to reassure you that Freeville School WILL be back! We will need to demonstrate, especially in the short term, that we are all Freeville Flyers.  We will need to be adaptable, caring and creative.

Our Project Team will be doing their absolute best to ensure that in the long term, Freeville School will be better than ever. We cannot dwell on what our buildings are like now and what they were like before. Rather we have to look at the damage inflicted on our buildings as an opportunity to build something fantastic, and that's what we will be setting out to do.