Students will be officially back in the classroom at Cobden schools on Wednesday as the region shifts to recovery mode following devastating fires.
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With many roads now reopened and bus routes restored, Cobden Technical School, Cobden Primary School and Hampden Specialist School will be up and running.
Cobden Technical School principal Rohan Keert is welcoming the return to normality, but said getting back in the classroom was just one of the first steps.
“We’re absolutely rapt that we can return to normal. Following any kind of traumatic event it’s really important to have routines in everyone’s life, but particularly children’s lives. They need structures to move beyond the trauma,” he said.
“None of our families from the Tech directly suffered significant property loss, having said that they will all be traumatised in some regard because everyone in a lot of the small towns across Corangamite got the evacuation order… and I would say almost everyone, staff and students and families in our community know someone who has (lost everything).”
Many staff could not make it through the fire zone to school on Monday and Tuesday, but Mr Keert said those who did began touching base with fire-affected families. Messages are also going out on social media about supporting people through trauma.
“The first thing we’re doing is finding out who needs the support,” he said.
“I love being in a community like Cobden when I see the responses to people in need.
“We’ve also been overwhelmed by messages of support from other schools and organisations.”
But the recovery effort was not over once students were back, Mr Keert said.
“We understand that there will be significant work ahead as we continue to support our students and their families. Our farming families are doing it tough and we do everything we can to support them,” he said.
“There’s things we’ve put in place with our internal support, our councillor and chaplain, plus external support. It will be ongoing.”
The strength of the school community was on display in Port Campbell on Saturday night when staff members Julie and Neal Simmonds helped shelter people evacuating from the Timboon area.
“We had two other staff members and their families stay with us, but we also had probably 12-15 current and past students, they all lobbed in on us as well,” Mr Simmonds said.
With no power and no internet, the group had plenty of time talk, and watch the orange glow in the sky.
“I think they just needed somewhere to sit and talk. It was somewhere for them to go,” Mr Simmonds said.
“The kids that were coming out of Timboon said the smoke was really thick there. I think they all thought it was time to get out.”
Fellow teacher Brett Taylor also had a sleepless night after evacuating his mum from the danger zone.
“Realistically I probably did what anyone else would do for their family,” he said.
“In the end, her house and property didn’t get damaged, it stopped within 100 metres. My sister’s outpaddock got burnt out. It was too late by the time I got there.”
Mr Taylor said the fires had come within just a few short kilometres of Cobden itself. “If the wind had changed… I don’t think people actually realise it was just there. It was close.”