THE kids at Hillview State School feel lucky to have the place to themselves, but they wouldn’t say no to a few more classmates.
There are currently eight kids in the entire school: one in each year level from year one to year four, two in year five and two in year six.
Hillview is a one teacher school, led by teacher principal Emily Dujela and a handful of staff.
There are no prep students right now, but three preps might start in 2025 just as the two year six students move up to high school, bringing the total cohort to nine students.
When the Beaudesert Bulletin visits, one quarter of the school is missing because two brothers are away.
In a tiny school like Hillview, it is clear that literally every student counts. This fact is not lost on the students, who are eager to tell the Bulletin why they love their school.
Their schoolgrounds are home to kangaroos, goannas, echidnas, carpet pythons and possums, and horses are in the paddocks nearby.
The students feel spoilt in a good way to have access to so many facilities, activities and one-on-one time.
They have two adventure playgrounds, two trampolines, two ovals, a custom sandpit, a tennis court which will be shaded in 2025, handball courts, tic tac toe, immaculate gardens, a veggie patch, compost bins, messy play area and cubby house.
There is a performing arts building, 3D printer, new car park, picnic rugs, a fridge for their lunches and a rewards system where they cash in points each week.
Each child has their own laptop, and they get to do excursions, science experiments, sport, swimming lessons, instrumental music, learn Auslan and go on interstate school camp.
Every Thursday morning the school hosts the Wildlings Playgroup, which is free for all youngsters from birth to school age, some who might end up being students at the school.
The magic number to get a second teacher at the school is 26 students.
Business Manager Rhonda Thorpe, who also works at Darlington State School, said numbers always fluctuated in small schools but what remained the same was the care for the kids.
“I’ve been here for 13 years and the maximum we’ve had is in the 30s. Now, it’s probably the lowest we’ve been in the time I’ve been here,” she said.
“We put everything into those children, and we do it because we love it, and you can see that reflected in the children, how happy they are.”
