A teacher at a Dubbo school says they have a beautiful community that’s supported the process of recovering from a fire.
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The blaze destroyed a number of classrooms at Buninyong Public School.
Teacher Erin Faulds and her Year 1 students lost their work and resources in the fire that hit during the holidays.
Despite this the school was all ready for its students on the first day of the new term.
“This is our first week back at school and it’s been amazing,” Mrs Faulds said.
“We’ve got our new classroom and it’s been really good.
“We’ve got very caring children, we’ve got a beautiful community that’s supported the process and it’s been good.”
Mrs Faulds has been at the school for 12 years and the class’s progress was seen by this newspaper during a visit.
“They are very resilient and they know their job here is learning and that’s what they’re doing,” she said.
Principal Anne van Dartel said they were supporting the students.
“The first day we discussed it at assembly, the staff were given a script that we talked through to make sure kids felt safe and comfortable and if they had any questions we addressed those questions,” she said.
“And we talked about what will be there and what will be there in the future.
“So really acknowledged and then we talked about future planning.”
The first week had gone smoothly, Mrs van Dartel said.
“Absolutely, to walk into a classroom here you wouldn’t know there had been some sort of disaster or a fire in a shape, way or form,” she said.
“It just looks like a normal classroom.
“And there’s been a few more fun items, all our classes that were affected by fire are going to the library.
“They’re also going down to the cultural centre for a big day out of painting and enjoyment so they can actually started rebuilding the art they lost in their classroom.”
Mrs van Dartel said they had received generous support from the wider community.
Donated books and games came steadily to her office and families of students helped out by making playdough for classes.
“The goodwill we’ve experienced has outweighed anything that we could keep as a negative from the fire.
“So I think that’s really restored everyone’s faith in human nature in the way things have gone.”