Devastating Day.

Saturday 12th July 2008 will be a very dark day for our little community. We woke to the news at 7am that a fire had been lit in our primary school, with 2 buildings affected.

Upon arriving at the school at 8am, we were greeted with smoke billowing out from the main building, numerous fire units and police cars, and some very distressed teachers. The two buildings affected house the majority of the classrooms. The main building has been seriously damaged with the whole office, computer lab, robotics lab, grades 5 and 6 classrooms completely gone. The other building affected has the junior classes, where the prep room has been singed severely. This accounts for approximately 40% of the school, with 90% being damaged in some way by smoke and/or water.

It made headlines on all the news bulletins last night and the shock soon turned to reality as they showed a lot more of the extent of the damage than what we could see when we were at the school during the day. I think it will really hit home when we return from school holidays tomorrow.

Latest news is that the main building may have to be fully demolished as the damage to the structure is far too great to repair. That would leave only 2 classrooms currently being used in the other building. I am unsure of the state of this building at this stage.

Our community has been rocked by the individual/s who caused this atrocious act, and I hope they feel guilty for what they have done. Our community is a strong one, and we will rally together in our time of need and our little primary school will rise from the ashes and strive forward, for the sake of our beautiful children.