Schools on lookout for stressed students

8:31 am on 13 September 2010

All but nine of Canterbury's 213 schools will be open on Monday, most for the first time in 10 days, and a principal says teachers will look out for students struggling with earthquake trauma.

Lincoln High School principal Linda Tame says some senior students have been anxious about losing a week's learning before the NCEA exams and have been text-messaging about reopening.

Students, Ms Tame says, "have had very varying experiences. Some have had an enormous amount of damage to their homes and others have had almost none.

"So we're going to need to watch out for them, and we're going to be putting in place screening strategies to ensure that we do watch out for those students that need the extra care and attention."

Ms Tame says teachers will make time to talk about the quake during lessons if students need it.