After the NSW floods: The road to recovery

Unity in the face of adversity has been key to dealing with the flooding which devastated the northern rivers area of NSW in late February, Sue Osborne writes.

Local preschools and early childhood education and care centres from communities all over Australia, as well as the broader community, banded together to help those hit by flooding.

In April, thanks to pressure from the Northern Rivers Preschool Alliance, supported by the NSW/ACT IEU Branch, NSW Education Minister Sarah Mitchell announced additional funding for flood affected early education services.

The Northern Rivers Preschool Alliance, coordinated by Clunes Preschool Director and IEU Early Childhood Services Council member Melinda Gambley, set up a GoFundMe page appealing for financial support for rebuilding and replacement of lost equipment and resources.

The Alliance is a not-for-profit organisation representing 42 statefunded preschools on the far north coast, from Grafton in the south, Tweed in the north and west to Tabulam.

“We knew the first flood was coming, I’d already made the decision to close our preschool as I knew most of my staff would be flooded out – but we had no indication of the scale of what was to come,” Melinda said.

“I had been up early checking the river heights and could see it was going to be big – I contacted my staff and friends who lived in low lying areas to see if they were okay.

“It was truly shocking to see (in real time thanks to social media) the cries for help from people and the emergency services overwhelmed and unable to assist.

“I’ve lived here for over 25 years now, so I knew that several of our Lismore preschools would be seriously damaged and that the downstream communities of Coraki, Ballina and Woodburn would be next.

“Not only that, many educators, staff and families would have lost their own homes.

“The early childhood community here in the northern rivers is close; we have a strong network of preschools through the Northern Rivers Preschool Alliance and a long history of collaborating and advocating for each other.

“I was in the fortunate position that both my home and preschool were unaffected, but these people are my long-time colleagues and friends, I’ve worked in some of the preschools, and I know a lot of the communities and families.

“I contacted Kate Scanlan, the Director of Dunoon Preschool and Alliance President. We were both desperate to do something. We got our heads together and set up the GoFundMe and, with the support of the Alliance and the team at Koori Curriculum, began to manage this and some other practical support for preschools and local children.

“Around the same time, I wrote to Education Minister Sarah Mitchell, as I could see the impact was going to be huge.

“The wheels in the Department turn excruciatingly slowly and it took several weeks to get any action; preschool directors, staff and families were left to manage the absolute devastation themselves.

“The toll on these people was, and continues to be, huge. On top of the challenges of the past two years, they are just about at breaking point, and they somehow struggle on.

“The recovery of our preschools will be slow and long. There is no one here who is untouched by these events; the devastation is widespread and ongoing, and we are already seeing the heartbreaking impacts of homelessness and trauma on our children and our educators.

“While the Minister has visited several times and has announced some funding and support, it’s not enough. While the initial counselling supports are great, they are shortterm and need to be extended beyond the end of April.

“We’ve been so grateful for the support of our fellow educators and centres around NSW, but I just really hope the teachers, educators and children are not forgotten by the government and the people of NSW.”

The IEU wrote to Mitchell in late March to support the Alliance’s pleas. The letter said in part:

“These teachers have been actively involved in securing assistance for the clean-up, repair and relocation of their services so they can continue to provide quality education and care.

“The families rely on the preschools to provide care for their children while they attempt to rebuild their lives. The children need the security and routine from their trusted educators to enable them to recover from the trauma of this disaster in a caring, familiar environment.

“The IEU urges you as Minister and your department to urgently direct adequate resources to support these teachers and their colleagues to rebuild their early education services. Currently these services are relying on volunteers for cleaning and donations of resources to enable them to operate.

“The union is concerned about the ongoing effect this disaster will have on these teachers, particularly regarding burnout and fatigue which will exacerbate the current teacher shortages. We believe that teachers should have access to funded counselling, if they request it, to be able to continue to perform their jobs in this difficult situation.”

On 5 April, Mitchell announced a package including $9.5 million for psychology and counselling for school and early childhood staff and trauma training so they can support students, and $9 million to help ECEC services rebuild.

Lismore Preschool families get together after the flood

“The families rely on the preschools to provide care for their children while they attempt to rebuild their lives.”

Lismore Preschool

The Lismore Preschool team said support from the Northern Rivers Preschool Alliance was a great help in directing the offers of equipment and money.

The amazing response of the local community – which not only carried out heroic rescues at the height of the flooding, but has done an amazing clean-up – also lifted their spirits.

Lismore Preschool was inundated up to its roof. A new structure built to withstand a one-in-200-year flood was submerged. All the preschool’s learning and teacher resources, furniture and books collected over many years, were lost.

The team are drawing on their experience of the 2017 flooding, their knowledge of their families and children and their core strengths and stability to develop a careful recovery plan for the children.

They are also supporting each other, with all staff impacted in one way or another, some educators also losing their own homes and belongings.

Soon after the floods, the preschool organised a get together at a local park for staff and families (pictured).

“This event was extremely popular, with families enthusiastic about getting together and having the opportunity to experience some sense of normality and reconnect with staff and each other,” Educational Leader Lynette Funnell said.

The preschool will re-open soon in a demountable in the grounds of Lismore Public School. Nominated Supervisor Alexis Smith said the Department of Education had acted quickly to find them a new home. In the longer term, they will look to repair and renovate their preschool once again.

Alexis said they contacted all their families individually, prioritising those more vulnerable or from areas that experienced the worst inundation to return to preschool in a temporary classroom at Lismore Public School.

This allowed for approximately 70 families to return one day per week, with all families then able to return when the preschool moved into the newly arrived demountable classroom for the start of Term 2.

“We recognise there will be a lot of trauma. Some of our children had to be rescued from rooftops and attics,” Alexis said.

Lynette said listening to the children would be a priority, as would looking for opportunities to utilise resources that address the children’s needs, including liaising with other local organisations that can offer physical and emotional support.

“We know from 2017 that it can be many weeks or months before some children can display their real emotions. This can include role playing whenever it starts raining, with children talking a lot about the flooding.

“We must provide opportunities for these experiences to play out as one way for them to help work through their trauma; being able to talk about the flooding in ways they wish, to help them make some sense of their experiences and even relive them if they need to.

“We’ll be looking at support such as play-based therapy, being as creative and adaptive as we can,” Lynette said.

It has also been acknowledged that the staff team will need to look out for each other as well as the children. However, Lynette said the team is strong and stable and the preschool is run with a focus on whole centre support, including providing for overratio staffing levels, which in turn will help with individual needs.

Alexis said: “Everyone has a voice here; every idea is valid. I think that helps keep us together, as well as our good conditions.”

Cawongla Preschool children have been exploring water flows and landslides to make sense of their recent experiences

Cawongla Preschool

Families have been going through hell and high water, literally, to reach Cawongla Playhouse Community Preschool and restore a sense of normalcy and security to their children.

Cawongla is about 30km north of Lismore and was one of the few preschools on the northern rivers not to be inundated during the March flooding. While its staff and families were mercifully spared total inundation of their homes, many were cut off for days, with landslides and collapsed roads a feature of the area.

Director Stephen Gallen was cut off for a week and had to have his car towed to higher ground by a tractor. Each day he hiked across landslides to reach his car and drive to preschool.

He said many families were prepared to endure similar difficulties to take their children to preschool every day. They welcomed the chance to reassure their children that life was going to go on as it had before.

“In the first weeks back, we talked to their children about their concerns. One girl asked us in the afternoon, when it started raining, if her mum was going to get flooded,” Stephen said.

“We answered that question honestly and explained that in this case it was just a shower,” Stephen said.

“We did a lot of work with water, dirt and sand. The children were fascinated by landslides and so we used the sandpit to dig channels and show them how water flows and how landslides work.

“One child spent his weekend digging a trench around the house with his father and grandfather, and when he came to preschool on Monday we were digging trenches in the garden.

“There’s a strong storytelling component to our program – oral storytelling, not just books – so we told children stories about other children having to climb out the window and being rescued by boats.

“All the stories ended positively with a lot of affirmation around resilience and strength. We were trying to allow the children to face their concerns, ask questions and deal with their anxieties.

“The flooding was a big part of their experience so we didn’t want to push it aside. We wanted to give them the chance to talk it through in a calm way and provide connections.”

Stephen said a month after the main flood there was a mixture of resilience, strength, and trauma on display, although the persistent rain was making the recovery process harder.

IEU support

NSW/ACT IEU Organiser Tina Smith said members should not neglect their own mental health while they try to recover from the flooding, and should remember that their workplace entitlements still apply, even during this difficult time.

Contact your union for advice about emergency disaster leave, personal leave entitlements or other matters.

To support the Northern Rivers

Preschool Alliance appeal, see: www.gofundme.com/f/supportcommunity-preschools-after-thefloods

Australians have endured a tumultuous few years, with bushfires, floods and a global pandemic. Emily Campbell investigates how we ensure young children feel protected and safe amidst disruption, trauma and uncertainty.

Such events are difficult for grown adults to grapple with and disaster fatigue is widespread and ongoing.

Dr Judith Howard, a behaviour support specialist and Associate Professor at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) Faculty of Education, is a leader in trauma-aware education.

She said sudden changes to routine, fears about health and financial worries can cause anxiety for very young children, not just adults.

“Young children feel anxiety just like older children and adults, but often their main source of support to process this anxiety is through the adults with whom they are close,” Dr Howard said.

“Children of this age pick up on the emotional and anxiety-related signals from adults including teachers, parents, carers and others around them.

“This means if adults are physically or emotionally absent, young children will struggle to process difficult emotions on their own.

“If adults are expressing fear, emotional dysregulation or are not coping, it will be difficult for young children to process their emotions in a helpful and effective way.”

Being present

Dr Howard said when adults express unconditional care and support for young children and continue to be present and responsive despite the worrying circumstances surrounding them, children can cope far better.

“This is not an easy job for adults who have significant and valid reasons for feeling the emotions they are feeling,” she said.

“It takes a sincere effort to prioritise the support and wellbeing of young children, no matter what else is going on.

“We have seen recent examples of this in Ukraine, where isolated, harmed and terrified adults are holding, rocking, and playing with their little ones.

“These parents are experiencing an innate response to protect their young children from not only the very real physical harm of the war, but also the emotional harm associated with the terror of the war.”

Early interactions impact development

Dr Howard explained it is important to remember much of the rapid neural development from birth and throughout

early childhood occurs as a response to interactions with adults such as caregivers and early childhood education teachers.

“This interactive process forms the foundation of human attachment, which develops and matures throughout life to assist with all relationships and to build resilience when tough times occur.

“However, when a child’s physical environment is frightening and their relational environment is nonsupportive or harmful, there can be a tragic impact on the development and future functioning of the child’s nervous system and brain.”

Dr Howard said children can be negatively impacted if access to warm and supportive adult attention is unpredictable or absent.

“How early childhood education teachers and assistants engage with very young children who have experienced trauma is vital.

“Although this very rapid period of neural development leaves these children vulnerable to the impacts of trauma, there is also a wonderful window of opportunity for the work of early childhood education staff to help remediate this impact.”

Discussing difficult topics

Early childhood education teachers and assistants may be noticing emotional and behavioural changes in young children during stressful events.

Dr Howard said it is completely normal for children of kindergarten age to be inquisitive and have questions, because they are old enough to know something important is going on and that it is perhaps upsetting or worrying the adults around them.

According to Dr Howard, the best approach to answering children’s questions is to provide short and simple responses, then encourage them to move on and continue playing, learning and engaging in relationships.

“At this age, they do not need to know too much detail about the problem. That is the job of adults who are there to nurture and protect them,” Dr Howard said

“Simply put – you need to provide an honest response that is calmly delivered and that is backed up with reassuring comments that the harmful event will eventually cease and that the child is safe and cared for.

“Don’t dwell on any conversation about harmful events, but rather respond and then move on to activities that are enjoyable and somewhat distract the child from any concerns they might be experiencing.

“However, if the child’s experience includes grief and loss of a loved one, early childhood education staff need to provide the time and space for the child to be sad and to support them during this time.

“You can still include play, craft and activities during this time, but in a way that helps them to process their sadness.

“In some circumstances, children will need information that is important to keep them safe from harm, so adults need to consider what is the least harmful amount and type of information they can communicate to young children, to achieve this goal.”

Dr Howard said early childhood education teachers should limit children’s access to news coverage and screen time online to prevent exposure to mature and confronting content.

“Early childhood education teachers need to consider the age or stage of development, because there’s no good reason to load the worries of the world on young children.”

Trauma experiences differ

According to Dr Howard, children, like adults, process the experience of trauma in very individual ways.

“One child might experience a minor event or hear about a disaster but not experience it directly, and this can still lead to them becoming terrified to the extent that it impacts on their wellbeing,” she said.

“Another child might experience a disaster directly, but it may not have such a devastating effect on their wellbeing.

“Early childhood education professionals should never assume a traumatic event will be experienced by individual children in the same way, or to the same degree.

“Rather, they need to take heed of how individual children are coping or not coping and respond accordingly.”

Dr Howard said what makes a difference is the quality and consistency of adult care and support surrounding the child.

“Children who lack this, or who are experiencing harm at home, may not have the capacity to cope with extra adversity, so it’s even more important early childhood education staff provide the secure base and safe haven these children need,” she said.

Importance of comfort and play

Anxiety can manifest differently in each child but there are some signs to look out for to identify children who are not coping.

“In simple terms, you need to look out for behaviours

Dr Judith Howard

Photo: courtesy Queensland University of Technology (QUT)

that fit into the ‘fight’, ‘flight’, or ‘freeze’ categories,” Dr Howard said.

“During severe emotional dysregulation, parts of the brain that manage these responses become very active.

“There is no one-size-fits-all approach to helping children experiencing anxiety because of current events,” Dr Howard said.

“However, there are three categories of strategies to consider and early childhood education staff can use their creative and professional judgement to do this.”

Those three categories are: • strategies to help the child perceive they are safe • strategies to engage the child purposefully and repeatedly with relationships, and • strategies to help children to develop their skills for emotional regulation.

“Children need repeated reminders that the people they are with, and the environments they are in, are safe.

“For children who are experiencing anxiety, the importance of play cannot be underestimated, as the interactions between adults and children during play stimulates the biochemistry of attachment and important neural development.”

Helpful resources

There are many free resources which early childhood education staff can use to help children make sense of traumatic events and develop resilience.

Dr Howard said the Birdie’s Tree picture book series produced by Dr Andrea Baldwin from the Queensland Centre for Perinatal and Infant Mental Health, is a wonderful resource.

“The story books, therapeutic games, support materials and activities feature the recurring character Birdie and are effective tools for early childhood education staff to help young children work through scary experiences and big feelings.

“One of the best sources of information, science and helpful resources is the Harvard Centre on the Developing Child, which has developed a huge range of free resources to help parents and early childhood education professionals.”

Dr Howard believes employers should invest more in professional development (PD) so early childhood education staff can gain a thorough understanding of how trauma impacts children.

“Research is showing that training staff to understand what trauma is, how it impacts child development, and how to address this via the daily practice of staff, is a costeffective and critical investment in children.

“Such training also can enhance the personal and professional wellbeing of the staff themselves, because they can feel confident in their work to develop early brains and nervous systems, which are the foundations for later schooling, health and wellbeing and life functioning.”