Elim College principal Murray Burton says he has reached out to the principal of Whangārei Boys' High following the death of a student.
In 2008, Elim College lost six students and one teacher in the Mangatepopo River canyoning tragedy.
The group were swept away in a flash flood while on a school camp at the Sir Edmund Hillary outdoor centre.
Speaking to Breakfast this morning, Burton said there's very little training for teachers and principals when a tragedy like this strikes.
"We all know that grief has to be worked through and you have to allow the anger to come, you have to allow things to get out otherwise you're not going to be whole afterwards.
"It's never over, you only move through each stage and so we simply just went with our gut feeling, what we were hearing and what we were seeing and what we were being told."
He said his message to the Northland community was to take care of each other and the boy's whānau and to take one day at a time.
"My encouragement directly right now is for that school to look after that whānau, absolutely look after them, they will never see their boy again alive and they have to make sense of that and it takes a long time.
"A community in grief, it's a rippling affect and that school is the hub of the community and now they need to do the business of looking after those people."
Burton said this tragedy is a good reminder that life is not just about one person, it's about the people around you.
"I am forever grateful when I look back at the people who stood around me to enable me to actually make it through and I'm just going to encourage her [the principal] today to reach out to people, she can't do it all and she also should reach out to the family who can't do it all.
"Together they need to find a way to move forward through what is going to be a long journey."
He said there isn't just one way to deal with a tragedy of this scale.
Karen Gilbert-Smith said a comprehensive investigation into the tragedy is underway. (Source: 1News)
"It would be remiss of me to say to the principal of Whangārei Boys' High 'this is how you do it', read the context, read what's happening, life is different 15 years on, the impact of social media, we never had that.
"Within a short space of time of that boy missing, social media went rife with all sorts of accusations and recriminations, it's not the time for that."
Yesterday, Whangārei Boys' principal Karen Gilbert-Smith said she can't provide details about the caving trip but the school continues to provide support to those affected.
Gilbert-Smith spoke to 1News, reading a prepared statement and not taking questions.
"As we have already expressed, our thoughts and aroha are firmly with the whānau and students, even more so now that the body of one of our students tragically has been recovered," she said.
"It's really important for me to me to let you know how devastated we are. One of our whānau have lost a much loved son and brother who is treasured.
"The impact of this tragedy is being felt widely among our school staff, students and wider community.
"I do realise people have lots of questions but I'm simply not in a position to provide answers at this early stage, out of respect for whānau."
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