HOT TOPIC AT SCHOOL TODAY - THE EARTHQUAKE

Dear Parents and Caregivers

After last night's big shake the children came to school telling stories about the earthquake.  We decided it was an opportune moment to remind the children about what to do in an earthquake.  

We started the session giving the children a few minutes to talk to their friends about last night and then we went over the  earthquake procedure.  

The procedure is, that if the children are in class they are to DROP, COVER, HOLD. They can go under a table or a bench if it is nearby, otherwise they need to curl up like a turtle.  We have told the children that they need to turn their backs to the glass windows so that any broken glass does not damage their beautiful faces 😉

The children went to pretend to work in our classroom and we pretended there was an earthquake.  I said "Earthquake" and the children all assumed the DROP, COVER, HOLD position.  I spoke to them during our fake earthquake, explaining that in a real earthquake it might be a bit noisy and things might be wobbling about, but the teachers will talk calmly to them the whole time to reassure them that everything will be OK.

After the earthquake, if necessary, Mrs Peck will ring the Evacuation Bell and we will assembly outside.

Next we sang our TurtleSafe Song...

We talked about what happens if you are outside when an earthquake happens.  We told the children that they are to check they are away from anything that could fall on them and then DROP, COVER, HOLD.

The children decided that they would like to write about the earthquake so they were allowed to work alone, or in small groups to write a story today.  

The children were all very calm today.  They seemed confident that they would know what to do in an earthquake and most importantly, they know we will look after them.

I am posting this tonight so that you are aware of the discussion at school as you may like to reinforce this at home.  

Below is a link with a few tips Nigel Latta has on how to help children deal with stress of these types of events.

http://www.goldfishwisdom.org/parents/coping-with-disasters

Thanks for your support and keep safe...

Jo xxx