After enduring last summer's bushfires which saw their school close for the first two weeks of this year, Michelago Public School students were just getting back into the swing of things when the coronavirus pandemic forced most of them to stay at home.
But the school, like the broader community, has shown remarkable resilience and rather than wallow in the circumstances has seen it as an opportunity to celebrate being together, apart.
The school this week released its #StayHome video which shows the children, at home and at school, recognising that now is the time "to come together".
It's a moving piece, the children clear that while the bushfires were a threat to their immediate community, the threat now was a worldwide one and everyone had to be there for each other .
"So we as students and staff of Michelago Public School, are asking everyone to support each other. Support your neighbours, support your friends, support your friends," is the message in the video.
The school billboard also boasts a new motto: "Stop. Pause. We will get through this together."
Principal Claire Plummer said it had been "a trying year for everyone".
She said 41 students attended the school just south of the ACT border in NSW and all but six were at home due to the pandemic, the school remaining open to those in need and the children or essential workers.
The video, produced by teacher Simon Buckley, with the help of colleague Susan Tillack, had given everyone a boost.
"It was a way to connect not just our community, but the broader community," Mrs Plummer said on Thursday.
"And, yes, it's hard for all of us and it is so challenging but we all need to understand we can do it, hang in there.
"Michelago is a growing community and our families are brilliant, our staff are brilliant and our kids are totally gorgeous."
Mrs Plummer said the school would continue to follow the advice of the Education Department about when students should return to the classroom.
"We love our children, we don't mind when they come back," she said.
Mrs Plummer said the school had been assisted greatly through the bushfires and the coronavirus pandemic by Queanbeyan director of educational leadership, Fiona Senior-Conroy.
"All schools are doing a fantastic job," Mrs Plummer said.
The Turnbull family of Michelago have two children at Michelago Public - Imogen, 9, and Tilly, 10. Brothers Archie, 4, and Bailey, 5, will be there next year. They now attend the Monaro mobile preschool that visits Michelago every Monday. And oldest sibling Bridie, 12, attends St Mary MacKillop College in Canberra.
But all five children have stayed at home since the coronavirus shutdown, lucky to have a 200-hectare grazing property to run around on, with parents Catherine and Nathan.
Mrs Turnbull said the property was, thankfully, not threatened in the bushfires and homeschooling during the coronavirus pandemic was just a case of one day at a time.
"I think you can't take it too seriously," she said.
"You get the basics done and can't expect much more. Every child will be in the same boat when this is all over. There will be some catching up to do."
