School recovers after blaze

NORTHERN Bay P-12 College has welcomed students back to its Hendy Street campus after a fire last month caused significant damage to the school’s administration building and several classrooms.

The fire is believed to have started shortly after midnight on October 8.

Damage from the blaze forced the school to close the campus to students for about a week.

School community connections officer Kate Mastroianni said teaching staff and the community quickly came together to ensure that students were able to get back to their learning as soon as possible.

“With teaching staff working tirelessly over the course of one day to set up classrooms, purchase lost items and build supports, everything was ready for our students.”

On the day of the fire, all Hendy Street campus students were relocated to the school’s Peacock campus in Norlane, where they reportedly enjoyed meeting new friends, playing games on the oval and a toasted sandwich at breakfast club.

“Through the week, staff continued to work tirelessly at the Hendy campus to repurpose spaces to ensure that they can function effectively for the return of the P-6 students,” Ms Mastroianni said.

“This includes the addition of three relocatable buildings being installed, portable toilet suites and the recreation of office spaces and an administration area.”

In the week following the fire, Northern Bay hosted a sports day for the students at its Hendy Street and Peacock Avenue campuses, with their families invited to join the fun.

“The sports event was put together by wonderful staff at the last minute to have some fun after a stressful week,” Ms Mastroianni said.

She said work is continuing to ensure all students have full access to everything they need, as they transition back to their home campus.

“Northern Bay P-12 College would like to extend a massive thank you to the community that came together to support us through this time.

“Staff greatly appreciated support from government school teachers across the Geelong area.

“With supplies, coffee, morning tea and supports generously donated, we couldn’t have provided a seamless return to education for our students without you.”

Businesses that donated supplies included Dymocks Waurn Ponds, the Smith Family, Scholastic and Officeworks.