School seeks help to manage fallout of fire risk relocations

A Surf Coast school that has already been forced to relocate multiple times this year due to fire risk wants funding to deal with the fallout of moves, which are expected to become frequent.

Aireys Inlet Primary School Art & Music Hub.

A Surf Coast primary school has been short-listed for a $10,000 grant to deal with the effects of relocating on extreme fire risk days.

Aireys Inlet Primary School, and nearby Anglesea Primary, were forced to relocate to Torquay Primary for three extreme fire risk days in the first term of the year.

The relocations follow updates made to the Department of Education’s Bushfire and Grassfire Preparedness policy in 2023, which require pre-emptive relocations of schools on the Bushfire At-Risk Register on extreme fire risk days.

They also follow the implementation of the nationwide Australian Fire Danger Rating System, which was launched in September 2022.

Aireys Inlet Primary School principal Jennifer Abel said the school relocations were a result of the new rating system.

“Such relocations are going to be a part of our summers going forward,” Ms Abel said.

Ms Abel said nobody knew how big the impact of the relocation would be on individuals, families and localised communities, or what the long-term effects of these disruptions would be.

“But we want to find out,” she said.

Ms Abel said relocation was anxiety-inducing for many parents and students, especially because the first time they were relocated the school was given less than an hour to move its 72 students.

She said in response the school community had applied for a grant to fund an educational project investigating the social impacts of school relocation during extreme fire periods.

“We will listen to the experiences of children, families and schools to gather important new information about the felt educational, psychological and social impacts, such as increased eco-anxiety, of school relocations,” she said.

From what they hear, they will turn the story into a storybook to build community capacity to respond to bushfires and other climate-related disasters.

“We hope to educate, understand and normalise what is going to be a frequent part of summer schooling,” she said.

The project is a partnership between Surf Coast Shire schools, Deakin University, and University of Sydney and has been short-listed for the shire’s World Environment Day $10,000 grant.

It is up against two other local projects, one from Lorne P-12 College and another from The Brainary and Geelong Regional Library Corporation.

The Lorne P-12 College initiative would see students learn about regenerative farming, sustainable gardening, and food systems in the face of a climate crisis through a partnership with Common Ground Project.

The Brainary and library corporation’s Arckit Sustainability Studio would teach participants to learn the essentials for promoting sustainable living and addressing climate change within an architectural framework.

Originally published as School seeks help to manage fallout of fire risk relocations