Although our club’s relationship with Strathewen Primary School goes back six years to the Black Saturday wildfires, last Monday night was a first for many of us and for our guest speaker Jane Hayward.
As the school’s principal (and teacher of grades three to six), Jane and her colleague Di (prep to grade two teacher) have led their young charges down our way every March since 2009 – but this was the first time they had visited the club.
While those of us involved in organising the school’s annual beach visit have come to know Jane, Di, the students, parents and others, for some members this was their first encounter with the dynamic duo. It was also the first time we could hear firsthand about the role our club continues to play in the school community’s ongoing recovery.
Jane explained how a phone call out of the blue, several days after the school and everything else had been incinerated, kick-started what has since become the school’s annual day at the beach in Torquay.
For children and adults surrounded by blackened landscapes and the lingering smell of smoke, the restorative effects of fresh air, sunshine, blue ocean, golden sand and green hills offered a brief escape from their loss and grief.
This was evident during the rock pool rambles, surf lessons and fabulous meal breaks provided by the club but, as everyone piled back on to the coach for the long trip home, it was the smiles on their faces that spoke loudest about the visit’s benefits.
Over the years since, these have become increasingly important as the school community has sought to come to terms with Black Saturday and its aftermath. Jane talked about Di’s current preppies, many of whom weren’t even born then, who have recurrent nightmares about fires.
The level at which they present with speech and learning difficulties, and with bed-wetting problems is unprecedented in both teachers’ experience and is, they believe, a symptom of growing up in a bushfire-affected family.
For older students, relaxation classes feature strongly among regular class activities to counter body tics and other stress-related symptoms. Days of high wind, fire warnings, smoke smells and other natural and man-made events always cause high anxiety among the entire school population.
Six years down the track, family breakdowns are common, with Jane admitting many have surprised her – she thought they’d survive – and requiring skills above and beyond normal teaching to support the children affected. The impacts on men in particular have become increasingly apparent over the past two years with many no longer able to cope.
Jane also highlighted the lack of professional support for those teaching at bush-fire affected schools, including her own experience in trying to source appropriate counselling. While she and Di have remained, most have left teaching altogether.
These are among the many reasons why the school’s annual visit to Torquay continues to contribute to its recovery.
Jane said she is always surprised and very grateful when we contact her at the start of each year to ask if the school would like to visit again. A resounding ‘yes’ is always the answer but, as a Rotarian now herself, she also understands there may come a time when the club needs to divert its funds to other causes. For that reason, the school is already looking at how it might contribute towards the costs to ensure the event’s continuation.
On behalf of the entire Strathewen Primary School community past and present, Jane thanked everyone involved in the Torquay Rotary Club for their active role in the school’s recovery over the past six years.
“Just one day at the beach every year has made a huge difference for many bushfire-affected children and adults, leading them back to Torquay for holidays and building a strong relationship between our two communities,” Jane said.
Gail Chrisfield