AS Abermain Public School graduate Grace Burford, 12, eagerly discussed outfits and hairstyles with her friends ahead of their year 6 farewell, the last thing she expected was for it all to come to a halt.
In what should have been a joyful evening to mark the end of their primary schooling, celebrations were canned when a horror bushfire tore through Abermain on Thursday, December 14.
"We were evacuated from our school because the fires got quite close but we hadn't gotten any formal confirmation that our farewell had been called off," she said.
The 44 graduates went ahead slipping on their best attire for a fun evening that was officially called off when the town was urged to evacuate in an emergency warning around 4pm.
"We were all pretty disappointed but we knew it had to happen," Grace said.
She said fortunately the parents arranged for the group to have dinner at the Chelmsford Hotel in Kurri Kurri, where they were still able to head out all dolled up.
Despite the terrifying times, Abermain Public School principal Deb Bower was determined to give the students one last time to say goodbye before heading into high school.
"We rescheduled everything for Monday (December 18). The kids have had exactly the same night, obviously just a couple of days later than what we expected, but we're very excited and thrilled that's been able to happen," she said.
Grace said the farewell was "so much fun" and she was excited to participate in the tradition of the bell ringing.
"We had our presentation at the start and we all lined up to ring the bell to mark our graduation and then the parents had to leave and we had dinner and did some dancing," she said.
"Dinner was delicious and they gave us cupcakes and dessert - it was wonderful."
Grace wanted to thank her teachers and the community who worked hard to rearrange the farewell.
"We are a very tight-knit community so we all felt very special when everyone banded together to help us celebrate our last year as year 6 in primary school," she said.
"I just want to thank the teachers because they didn't have to go out and take time out of their day to do this. But they did it out of the kindness of their hearts, and it really shows that they all care for us."
Ms Bower thanked the community for coming together to make the celebrations happen.
