Principal mourns ‘beautiful soul’

Wairoa Primary School principal Richard Lambert has been teaching for nearly three decades and says he’s never come across a girl like 10-yearold Teang Atauea.

“All our students are special, but Teang was a level above,” Lambert said.

Teang, a Year 6 pupil at the school, died in Hawke’s Bay Hospital on June 23 from injuries she suffered in a crash on the Napier-Taupo Rd on June 21.

Her mother remains in a stable condition in Hawke’s Bay Hospital. Her younger sister is in Starship Hospital in a stable condition.

“In all my time teaching I have never come across someone as sweet, lovely and as beautiful a soul as Teang,” Lambert said.

Teang’s family, originally from Kiribati, moved to Wairoa three years ago.

“She had many friends in school. She was the type of girl who was there if someone was down, girl or boy. She would always try to remedy any incident,” Lambert said.

“Those of you who met Teang will remember a kind and caring young lady with a beautiful smile and it is an immense loss to our school whanau that she is no longer with us.

“She was just very, very special and it is a tragedy that has affected us deeply.”

Lambert praised the resilience of Teang’s teachers, senior staff, and school.

“Her classroom teacher remained amazingly professional through it all, but we told the students that it was okay to cry and okay if they saw some adults cry,” he said.

Teang’s funeral plans are yet to be made, and the family and community were waiting for her to be returned to Wairoa from the hospital, Lambert said.

“We talked to her family about it and her closest friends and many of her classmates will be at the funeral.

“Right now the father’s energy is focused on the little girl (Teang’s sister) and her recovery,” Lambert said.