AS Lameroo students return for the year's fourth term, they are coming to terms with the fire that devastated their school over the holidays.
At an assembly yesterday morning, principal Carissa Coleman's voice wavered as she apologised to senior students whose work had been lost. She said the SACE Board would use photo evidence and teachers' professional opinions to make sure students' final marks accurately reflected their work throughout the year.
Senior school coordinator Julia Brookes assured the students none would be disadvantaged.
"Obviously it's going to be a hard and stressful time for all of you, but no-one was injured, everyone is safe," she said.
"Belongings can be replaced but lives can't.
"I know it's really rubbish for you guys who've worked on projects all year, but that's the nature of the beast."
Year 12 student Aaron Przibilla had almost finished crafting a wooden bed, and had come into the workshop as recently as three days before the fire to keep working on it.
“I was fortunate enough to take some home for sanding, (but) the stuff I’ve lost is pretty much the guts of my bed,” he said.
“I guess I was the luckiest out of the lot.
“My mate was working on a bar and he lost pretty much all of it.”
Fellow year 12 Camilla Hand said the building itself had held a lot of sentimental value after her 13 years at the school.
“My mum went to school in that building,” she said.
“You learned to cook there, learned tech there - that was the cool room where you went before you went back to the classroom.”
Classes have been shuffled around the school and the community for this term - a home economics practical may be held at the local bowling club or community hall - and new appliances and furniture are already on the way.
Local churches even banded together to provide new pencil cases to the students whose lockers were destroyed - a small but generous gesture towards the rebuilding process.
Students will be kept away from the ruined building during recess and lunch to keep them from exposure to the small amount of asbestos it contained.
It will be demolished within a fortnight and a replacement structure completed sometime next year.
- Details: If you or anyone you know feels troubled in the aftermath of the fire, talk to teachers or your school counselor, get in touch with organisations such as Headspace at www.headspace.org.au.
