The Ministry of Education has activated its traumatic incidents team following the tragic discovery of a body in Whangārei’s Abbey Caves, where a student was swept away by flood waters yesterday morning.
The group from Whangārei Boys High School were in Abbey Caves when it was hit by a severe weather event. The body was found late yesterday evening, with the search now concluded, police said.
“Our traumatic incident team is supporting the school’s leadership team and will be available for as long as needed. Our thoughts are with the family and community at this very difficult time,” the Ministry of Education's northern deputy secretary, Isabel Evans, said.
“Our role is to support the school and we will do whatever we can. Any investigation will be carried out by the appropriate agency or agencies."
A ministry spokesperson said the specialist team helps schools develop appropriate processes for dealing with an incident to ensure the safety and well-being of their children/young people and staff, and to return the ECE centre/school to normal operations as quickly as possible.
“It also helps schools understand the emotional and psychological impacts of a traumatic incident and the effects such impacts can have on how people behave and advises on things schools can do to support people who have been involved in a traumatic incident.
“[We] advise schools on how to communicate about the incident appropriately with their children/young people, staff, parents and the community and link schools with other appropriate services where necessary.”
The group from Whangārei Boys High School were in Abbey Caves when it was hit by a severe weather event. (Source: Breakfast)
Police said that while formal identification is yet to take place, they are now offering family support.
“Our thoughts remain with them at this tragic time,” Tony Hill, Northland District Commander, said.
“We acknowledge this event has been very distressing for the school and wider community and that there are a number of questions the public will have.
“At the moment, police's focus is on supporting those affected, and we remind people to please not make assumptions as to what has occurred."
1News spoke to family members of the boy outside the cave yesterday morning, who were reportedly furious that the students entered the cave.
“The shouldn't have been there in the first place,” one said.
The school has announced it will be launching a full investigation into the incident.
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