Moama Anglican Grammar School’s Year 12 students recently lived through an experience like no other.
The flood crisis that engulfed Echuca and Moama impacted greatly on the senior cohort, resulting in the cancellation of the second and third weeks of HSC exams.
“It was really quite a unique situation because we are the only school who, in the whole of NSW, were impacted by the flooding during the HSC exams,” head of teaching and learning Hayley Catt said.
Mrs Catt tackled the task of contacting 51 students from 51 families.
“I'm really proud of how we handled the situation, and I'm really proud of our students, and our community,” she said.
“We've come through adversity.”
Despite the negative effect of the disruptions, many of the school’s students and staff were seen helping out within the community by sandbagging and assisting their neighbours.
“The amount of students I saw helping was outstanding,” Year 12 co-ordinator Deborah Duncan said.
“The ones that felt like they needed to get out and do something to get their mind off the exams, they were out helping the community, which was really amazing to see.
“I think that's one of the best things that has probably come out of this — the community spirit that our students have shown.”
While the Year 12 cohort was disappointed by the cancellation of the exams, their HSC teachers were similarly affected.
“The amount of work the kids put in is mirrored by how much work the teachers put in,” Ms Duncan said.
“It’s devastating to not be able to see your students put what they’ve been doing into practice, to see how well they can do.
“As Year 12 bio (biology) teachers, it's heartbreaking because we've pushed these kids for two years to get them through, and then their exam is cancelled.”
Mrs Catt worked closely with the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) to provide students with misadventure applications to limit the impact the floods would have on their overall results.
“How NESA will address it will be fair for them and thankfully the majority of our students worked really hard all year so they have a well-rounded internal mark,” Mrs Catt said.