IN OUR SCHOOLS
The true impact of the flood disaster hasn’t only hit Townsville, with boarding school students from western Queensland missing home more than ever after hearing about the devastation.
Sarah Hughes, 15, who boards at The Cathedral School of St Anne & St James in Townsville, said it was hard being away from her family who were stuck on their property, Harrogate Station, about an hour out of Richmond.
The Year 10 student said she was worried about everything being alright at home, which was completely cut off by the floods.
“It has been a bit stressful because I’ve been at boarding school, I’m not really there to see everything,” she said.
“There’s been over 300 head of cattle that have drowned. All the fences at home have been torn down because of all the floods, so we’ll have to fix them.”
Sarah said her father has been surveying the property from a helicopter, and has had to pull down large trees to feed the surviving cattle because they can’t get to the grass on the ground through floodwaters.
“I’ve talked to mum and dad a fair bit, dad’s been a bit worried about everything,” she said.
“We were meant to be going home this weekend, but because of the rain my parents can’t get out of my property or anything.”
Sarah said it was comforting to have her older brother around her, who also boards at The Cathedral School and is in Year 12, as well as a number of other students from rural properties who are going through similar hardship.
“There’s a few people that live around me that understand what it’s like,” she said.
“They can very much relate to what’s happening, and you know it’s not just you.
“Not many people really know the height of what’s been happening outside of Townsville.”
The Cathedral School communications manager Amanda Peake said personnel from 1RAR attended the school over the weekend to provide some relief and entertainment for the cooped-up boarders.
Ms Peake said it was quite a sight to see the army arrive at the school in Bushmasters and help the students focus on something other than the disaster.
“They threw down a massive tug’o’war rope, they set cricket up, football, they had relay races were students had to put on helmets and armour, it just really took the kids’ minds off it,” she said.
“A lot of them (students) are Year 7. This is the first time they’ve been away from home and in some cases they’ve been home schooled all their life so this is a big change, and it provided some relief.
“They’re still talking about it today.” Ms Peake said it wasn’t just the students the army helped — with personnel helping cook up a massive lunch for everyone and putting parents’ minds at ease.
“There’s a lot of families out west that are now really suffering,” she said.
“To see the pictures that are going around of the kids interacting with the army boosts morale as well. It makes parents happy that their kids are being looked after.
“We’ve got amazing boarding and dining staff who have worked around the clock, their houses have been affected but their priority was for our 140 boarders to be looked after. They put the kids first, which is amazing.” Townsville l G Grammar mmar School shared a series of beautiful images of their boarding school students celebrating the rain by getting outside and enjoying the wet weather.
The school posted the fantastic photos to their Facebook page, and said t the boarders took full advantage of the downpour without a moment’s hesitation.
A number of Townsville Grammar boarders have travelled from properties in western Queensland, and may not have seen significant rainfall for months o or even years. The Inspire team’s thoughts are with the families of To Townsville boarders out west who are do doing it tough from the floods.