Flowers outside Whangārei Boys' High School in tribute to Karnin Ahorangi Petera who died on a school trip to Abbey Caves last month. Photo: RNZ / Jordan Dunn
When tragedy strikes a school community, a team of experts trained in handling trauma are on call, ready to help.
So far this year, the Ministry of Education's specialist team has been called out to schools 57 times, roughly what they would expect. Last year, the teams provided support to schools, kura and early learning services 184 times.
Crises the team have responded to this year include the death of a student while caving in Whangārei, and two children murdered in Ruakākā.
One school principal vividly remembers making the call for help 15 years ago after a canyoning disaster which killed six students and a teacher.
Soon after the flash flood in the Mangatepopo River, Elim College principal Murray Burton called the trauma team. That was in 2008, but the memory is still fresh.
"I distinctly remember sitting in my office with my senior leadership team... some members of the board had joined us, and we were all talking about how we navigate this thing," Burton said.
"Then the first phone call came through from the police. The constable said you can't tell the families this but at this stage, Murray, you have definitely lost four."
He said the shock was palpable.
"Literally around the room you could see a ripple as people suddenly came face to face with the enormity of the situation. That particular moment would be repeated school after school right throughout the country when these things happen."
The students were taking part in a canyoning trip at the Hillary Outdoor Education Centre.
Burton said a trauma team expert worked alongside him for four days straight - and was a godsend.
"The trauma team go through, they work with empathy, they understand the grief process and can work with small groups, large groups," he said.
"We needed help with someone to sit in every conversation we had. The questions got asked: 'Murray, how are the parents doing? Who knows what? Have we got the right messages coming through from the police?'"
The Ministry of Education had a traumatic incident team in every region - they included psychologists, former teachers, occupational therapists and speech language therapists.
A manager of the service, Victoria - RNZ cannot use her surname - was a psychologist and said they were called for a wide range of crises.
"Some of the things that we might get called for are a sudden death, it could be around an illness of staff or a parent in the community, it could be around an accident, it could be around offending in the wider community that's impacting on the students so there's a real wide range of things that a school might choose to call and ask for help with."
She said the trauma team helped schools map out what to do and when, amidst a crisis.
"Often schools are already managing the incident when they've called and we are really coming in to support them through the next steps," Victoria said.
"For other schools it might be the first time that they've had to manage something so traumatic, so they may want you there for longer and earlier and just to really do some of that pre-planning, thinking about who needs to be in the room and what agencies to connect with."
Secondary Principals' Association president Vaughan Couillault knew the worth of the service.
"In my career I have been part of a team where we have made that call where there has been loss of life, be that a grown-up or a student. It's a very challenging call to make, but we've certainly found that the response from the team has always been extremely helpful."
He is now principal at Papatoetoe High School, which - like many - had increased its team of counsellors since the Covid-19 lockdowns.
Since the canyoning tragedy, Burton had answered calls from principals facing crises around the world wanting advice - with tragedies ranging from children killed in avalanches to wildfires.
So, has he had to call the trauma team since?
"No I haven't and I'm very thankful, absolutely thankful and take nothing for granted. Thankful that in the last 15 years there's been other challenges, let's put it that way."
Even so, Burton said he would not hesitate to call the ministry's trauma team again, if the need arose.
"We will always, always need them."
