Along with the rest of the village, we at Dunoon School were totally stunned by the force of the tornado and the subsequent damage.

Since Friday 26th, the children have been sharing accommodation in the only rooms available – the library and music room. It was very sad for teachers and students to lose the Year 2/3/4 and the Year 5/6 classrooms along with everything inside. However, we are hopeful that out of this catastrophe will come some good. Eventually we will have new, modern and well equipped classrooms and we look forward to those in 2008!

The K/1 classroom along with the Out of School Hours Care room were also extensively damaged and we are waiting for some major repairs before those rooms can again be occupied. Most of the playground is still out of bounds because of widely scattered debris. So, quite a major disruption to our final term for the year!

Despite all of this, and the constant stream of workmen and activity around our school site, the children have coped amazingly well! Many of them experienced the storm in their own homes or were anxious about family and friends on the road and were eager to talk about the event once school resumed. The Department of Education supplied counsellors and support staff to help them to share their concerns.

We have been most grateful for all the assistance provided by the Department and the maintenance contractors in getting the school back into order. The SES volunteers were wonderful and were immediately able to secure the site and clear access for staff who were still at school during the storm.

It has been a monumental job for all. We have also been inundated with offers of support from all kinds of people and places. Especially, we would like to thank the following:

• Blakebrook Public School held a special fundraising event and presented the school with a cheque and some very sympathetic cards and letters from the children!
• Clunes Public School invited the whole school over for a fun day of activities and provided lunch.
• Dunoon Pre School donated the proceeds of their fundraising film evening and came in person to present a cheque.
• Yenny Tinning from Clunes came to give a free Latin Dance class.
• The Darke family who now own Eagle Boys Pizza, donated pizzas for the whole school to enjoy.
• Claire Squires of Literacy Directions donated lots of new readers.
• Joyce Bailey and an anonymous Dunoon resident have kindly donated money.
• The Channon, Modanville and Byron Bay Public Schools and the Dorroughby Environment Education Centre have also been very generous in their support.

People have been very kind to us!

Today we were able to move into 2 demountable classrooms which is amazing only 3 weeks after such devastation.

Genevieve Slocombe

Photo by Rachel Bertuzzi