4.09.2010

Two years ago today our lives changed when a 7.2 earthquake hit Canterbury. 

Two years ago some of our school was red stickered and we  moved our whole school down the road to Halswell Residential School. We "camped" there for awhile, in classrooms, hallways, lounges and kitchens. After many weeks the year 1-4 children came back to Halswell School and our year 5-8 children were split between Hillmorton High and Manning Intermediate Schools.
8 of our classrooms were demolished, our staffroom, admin area demolished and all our playgrounds were badly cracked. Our school hall was badly damaged - we still cant use it :( Halswell School looks very different now.

Over the two years our lives have changed - friends and families have left Christchurch, our houses have been demolished, repaired or still waiting....Parents jobs have gone, changed and many have had to move their businesses. Hundreds of buildings have been demolished, we still cant get into some of the CBD. It is now normal to drive a different way to work/ school each day as the road works change.
Sadly, many Children in Room 19 cant actually remember what Christchurch looked like before 4.9.2010 or what our school looked like - must admit I have difficulty remembering as well.

BUT -

•  we appreciate the small things 
•  our priorities have changed in many different ways
•  our friends and families are more precious to us
•  we can access geonet lightening fast!!! 
•  we can accurately guess the magnitude and direction of an quake!!

 and even after over 10,000 quakes, you children still come to school everyday smiling :)

Kia Kaha Christchurch