Flood classes moved

AS thousands of students returned to school today, Education Minister Martin Dixon has paid a visit to schools in flood-affected Rochester, where classes won’t resume until next week.All three of Rochester’s schools were severely damaged during last month’s floods but contractors, staff and volunteers have worked around the clock in an attempt to get them open.Students will return to Rochester Primary School on Monday with Rochester Secondary College ready for classes on Tuesday.St Joseph’s Primary School students have gone back to class, but their school remains closed.Some classes have moved into the parish hall, while others are being held at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart at Elmore.Mr Dixon toured both government schools, and met with St Joseph’s principal Peter Teggelove.“I’ve learnt so much already today – not only does flooding affect the school, but it has a broad impact on the teachers, students and families and right on to businesses,” he said.“It’s a ripple effect. And that’s why it’s important to come and see it and show people we are here to help in the long term.”Rochester Secondary College principal Bernie Altman said they had been overwhelmed with support from the community to get up and running in time.“Our whole administration area was flooded and we had a couple of classrooms with a lot of damage,” he said.“We had people come in and say they had their water, they had their lunch, and they weren’t leaving until we’d given them something to do.”It was a similar situation at Rochester Primary School, where principal Graeme Hodgens said it was important to get things back to normal as soon as possible.“It’s important to have the kids back here because there’s a lot of emotional conversations their parents need to have and we want a normal environment when they go back to school.”Mr Hodgens said he knew some families had left the area for good while others had left temporarily.“We will continue to fund schools for all the programs they have previously had regardless of the flood’s impact on numbers,” Mr Dixon said.