The group was remembered as jokers that were always there to lend a hand. 

Year 1 students Hannah Reilly, Lily Bangert, Jarrah Sutherland and Maya Bracks said they would miss the Year 12s more than others because, when the four were in kindergarten, it was the Year 12s who looked after them and became their “buddies”.

“I feel sad because they always helped us,” Hannah said. 

For hundreds of Year 12s across the region, this week marks the last time they will pack a school lunch, catch a school bus and don a school uniform. 

School captain Madison Kent said she could not hold back the tears when the younger students sang a song of thanks for everything the Year 12s had done for the school.

She said it had finally hit her that many of the students she had grown up with for the last eight years she may not see again. 

“I was sitting there and I really did start to think of all the friendships I’ve made,” she said. 

School captain Zac Pearson said it made him sad to think he may not keep in contact with some of his fellow students, because in their years together they had “grown as a community”.

But Madison knew paths would cross again because her classmates were  “big dreamers” and she would hear of their exploits in years to come. 

The students will come together for various  reasons during October and November, with the Higher School Certificate final exams only about three weeks away. 

The first exam starts on Monday, October 13.

nicole.kuter@fairfaxmedia.com.au