THERE'S a picture still hanging in one of the old classrooms of the Mullengandra Public School.
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Nestled in a white frame, a copy of a report from the Holbrook, Billabong and Upper Murray Chronicle from August, 1991.
The headline reads ‘Mighty Mullengandra P.S. – the little school with a very big heart’.
Though Friday afternoon marked the last time students will pass through the two classrooms next to the Hume Highway, principal Julie Twitt said that same spirit would live on in the memory of every student and teacher to pass through.
After 146 years, the school has officially shut down – just two students were enrolled in 2017, down from seven the previous year, leading to the difficult NSW Education Department decision to close the doors for good.
Ms Twitt has been the principal of the tiny school for 26 years.
Since arriving in 1992, the most students to attend the school at the same time under her watch was just over 30.
“It's been very emotional, it's very hard – 26 years here is almost half my life,” she said.
You only need a few minutes on the grounds to realise there is something special about the school – with so few students, Ms Twitt is more than just a teacher to year five pupil Christopher Jeffree and year six pupil Caitlyn McCarthy.
It's a special connection that perhaps only former students could best understand.
Every child is magnificent, sometimes you've just got to find the trigger that brings out the brilliance in them.
- Julie Twigg, principal
“Two kids has been interesting, but it's allowed us to focus on both of them and deal with their needs,” Ms Twitt said.
“It's a very special place, but that's because of the people.
“The students, the parents, the staff – they’re all magnificent and always have been.”
It's been an emotional week for the longtime principal, but hearing from plenty of past students in the last month has been a reminder of the good work they did.
Ms Twitt had some simple advice for her pupils – dream big.
“Just because they’ve been educated in the country, it should never hold them back,” she said.
“Every child is magnificent, sometimes you've just got to find the trigger that brings out the brilliance in them.”
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