Every kid loves a day off school but the students at the Mistake Creek State School west of Clermont had the best reason last week – too much water.
It’s not an excuse they’ve been able to drag out for years – mum Rhiannon Finger can’t remember her seven-year-old daughter, Imogen, ever missing a day from rain – but flash flooding gave the 19 primary school children an unexpected day off last Wednesday.
With Gorge Creek running at .4m on the Clermont-Alpha Road following storms on Tuesday evening, the decision was made to call off the school bus run for the morning.
Instead, the school’s students got to check rain gauges, slide around in the mud, and go swimming with tyre tubes.
According to Rhiannon, Peak Vale Station recorded 120mm while other catchment properties had up to 70mm on some of their paddocks.
She and husband Brendan had 36mm at Telarah, five kilometres from the Mistake Creek State School, and she said while the creek might have gone down in time for students travelling to reach the school for the day, it was a safe decision and had been a great novelty for them all.
“Hugo’s three and he’s never seen Gorge Creek flood over like that,” Rhiannon said, commenting on their youngest son’s reaction to the instant flood.
“He was so confused by the water. He was so perplexed at where it was coming from, why it was there, because it wasn’t raining while we were there.”
The school, sited 65km west of Clermont and 110km north east of Alpha, already makes provisions for summer heat and storms, finishing at 2.30pm rather than the usual 3pm.
Lately the students have been travelling to Clermont on Fridays for swimming classes, and their parents are getting ready for a Melbourne Cup luncheon this Tuesday.
Being so isolated, the school acts as a community hub, a precious thing for families in the current climate.
So much is it valued that the P&C contributes funds towards a second teacher at the school, which Rhiannon said was especially valued at present, with a lot of Prep and lower grade children at school.
“It means they don’t have to sit and wait a lot for an opportunity to learn explicitly through play or more creative outlets,” she said. “It frees up the teacher’s aide, and allows more one-on-one teaching.”
Their latest project is selling calendars to help fund a school camp to Canberra next year, a large expense when the nearest airports are Emerald or Mackay.
A favourite of charity groups such as Variety Bash rallies, who can see how special the close community is, the calendars feature photos of the students and their families, or events that happen at the school, such as Anzac Day ceremonies or Book Week dress-ups.
Rhiannon said the children love that their lives are the centre of attention.
“We’ve got a few little ones in the wings, Hugo’s age. You never know what’s around the corner – families come and go,” she said of the school’s future.
In the meantime, the families won’t be complaining if there’s a few more missed days before the end of the school year.
For Rhiannon and Brendan, 36mm was their second biggest rainfall since July 2016.
“It’s a good start, especially in October,” Rhiannon said.
“It tides you over with a little bit of hope.
More than anything it’s mental, it’s knowing it can rain.”
The 2019 limited edition calendars can be ordered through the Mistake Creek State School P&C Facebook page, or by contacting Patricia Benney on 07 4983 5363.