Schools are a hub for any community but play an even more important role for small rural communities such as Smeaton.

They’re not only an educational institution – they’re a meeting place, somewhere for parents to stand at the school gate when they’re dropping their children off and have a yarn, share their joys and sorrows and talk about the future of their town.

The Smeaton Primary School council recently voted unanimously to recommend the school close at the end of the year.

With just 12 students, including a lone female student, they were left with little choice.

I grew up in the small township of Koorlong, about 20km from Mildura in the state’s north west.

When I was in Grade 6 my school, the local primary school, boasted about 60 students – an impressive number for the small community.

But a few years later, when I was at high school and my younger sister was going through primary school, enrolments had dwindled to less than 30.

The school was in danger of closing.

Luckily, a few new families moved to town and the school was also able to pick up a few seasonal enrolments during picking time when Koorlong’s population would boom for the grape harvest.

The school was saved and everyone breathed a sigh of relief – our beloved school would remain open.

So with that experience in mind, I empathise with the Smeaton community and the school council members who were forced to make a difficult decision about the fate of the school.