Shine, March 2009, Vol. 02 - Department of Education and Early ...

Bushfires Special Feature
Shine 7
New hope emerges from
bushfire epicentre in Hume
“What this tragedy drums home for me is that schools are the centrepiece of their community. They are a
critical element and a great connector in the lives of people and to lose schools has been devastating.”
Stephen Brown, Hume Regional Director
For Hume Regional Director Stephen Brown,
the last few weeks have been some of the most
intense and demanding in his career. The Hume
region spans the epicentre of Victoria’s bushfire
tragedy. Two of the region’s primary schools
— Marysville and Middle Kinglake — were
destroyed. Three kindergartens — Kinglake,
Marysville and Flowerdale — were razed.
Another 27 schools were closed because of fire
threats.
PHOTO BY IAN CURRIE, COURTESY OF THE DAILY TELEGRAPH
Then there is the human toll, with more than
200 community members losing their lives
and thousands more being left homeless. Since
the firestorm struck, teams from the Hume
regional office and local schools have worked
determinedly to support these devastated
communities — organising counselling for
students, staff and parents; keeping local media
informed about school closures, re-openings and
bussing arrangements; and liaising with relief
agencies about local needs.
It has been an enormous task, but only two
weeks after the blaze, DEECD staff had
met their goal of having all 27 closed schools
reopened. “What this tragedy drums home for
me is that schools are the centrepiece of their
community,’’ Mr Brown says.
“They are a critical element and a great
connector in the lives of people and to lose
schools has been devastating.”
Mr Brown says school staff around the Hume
region have worked tirelessly to support their
own students and those from the destroyed
schools since the tragedy. Teams of counsellors
from Northern Metropolitan, Eastern
Metropolitan, Southern Metropolitan and
Grampians region have also been instrumental in
supporting the relief effort.
Soon after the bushfire situation began, staff
worked to track down as many families as
possible from destroyed schools to re-connect
with them and to identify their interim
educational options. While plans for reestablishing
educational
Craig and Vivian Eyles with their twoyear-old
son Logan stock up on some
donated goods in the main street of
Kinglake, in the Hume region.
services in the affected areas are well underway,
a key task for the region will be to keep track of
where students are so that their families can be
involved in future planning.
“Both the Middle Kinglake and Marysville
communities are very keen to re-establish their
schools and kindergartens,’’ he says. “There is
now an opportunity for these communities
to gather and plan the kind of education they
would like for their children in the future.”
Hume region
The facts
Schools destroyed: 2
Kindergartens/children’s
services destroyed: 5
Schools partially damaged: 2
Schools closed at the
height of the crisis: 27
Children’s services closed
at the height of the crisis: 16