Facing the task: Two teens arrested as Deni High charts path forward
Staff and students of Deniliquin High School are already back to a full education workload, even as they still come to terms with the news some of their peers were allegedly involved in the fire that destroyed a large portion of the school.
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Despite different grades being split into a number of different other campuses to finish out the term, they’re banding together to “push through”.
And with other local and district schools, businesses, organisations, former alumni and community members pledging support, principal Glen Warren said every effort is being made to limit the disruption for students.
Although it’s still unclear when the Deni High campus can be used again.
The fire broke out at the school about 12.45am Saturday, and destroyed more than 50 spaces - including 30 classrooms and the school library.
Firefighters from across the district battled strong winds to try and save as much of the school as they could.
Officers from Murray River Police District established a crime scene and commenced an investigation under Strike Force Soderblom.
By Monday evening, Murray River Police District arrested two teenagers.
They were both charged with alleged aggravated break and enter and destroy property by fire in company.
They were granted strict conditional bail to appear before a children's court on Wednesday, December 10.
Since Monday, the older of the two teenagers has also been charged with a separate incident at Deniliquin South School during the weekend, where entry was gained and property destroyed by force.
This matter will also be presented at the children’s court on Wednesday.
In the days since the blaze, staff and education leaders have worked tirelessly to ensure students can continue their learning with minimal disruption.
Principal Glen Warren said that while the loss of classrooms and facilities is devastating, the school community has already achieved a great deal in just four days.
Year 11 students have resumed classes, thanks to TAFE NSW making four classrooms in its connected learning centre available to them.
Support class students have been accommodated at Edward Public School, and until yesterday, students in Years 7, 8 and 9 were learning from home or accommodated at Deniliquin South School if unable to do so.
For the rest of the term, Year 7 will be accommodated at the Riverina Christian School campus, Year 8 at Edward and Year 9 at South.
Teachers and support staff will also be accommodated across each of the campuses.
Additional counsellors have also been provided by the Department of Education to assist students across the sites.
“We've had some great support from the department (of education) getting some resources for us, and making sure that we've got everything that we need,” Mr Warren said.
“We've lost 56 spaces in total, if you take in office spaces, etcetera.
“So we've lost our library, the library mezzanine, which is our upstairs learning area - these are the parts that were initially burnt.
“All of our maths classrooms, English classrooms, our woodwork room, they were all destroyed in the fire.
“The damage downstairs; we haven't been able to get in yet, so we don't know there, but that would take out our science labs, which are only fairly new, more maths rooms, and our whole wellbeing area has been wiped out.
“So 30 of our 46 classrooms are gone. So it's a fair percentage of our school site.
“Until it's all cleared, and they can get in and see the damage, we don't know whether there's been smoke damage further through the school.
“The fire brigade did a fantastic job in block stopping it, because all those buildings are connected, but they were able to get into the ceiling space and stop the fire spreading.
“If it had got through that one more door, it would have taken out another three buildings.”
Mr Warren said offers of support have poured in from across the region and beyond.
Local schools have provided laptops and learning materials, while schools as far away as Sydney and Swan Hill have offered equipment and resources.
Mr Warren said he also received calls of support from multiple education leaders and organisations within hours of the fire, and daily meetings with the Department of Education have ensured resources are quickly replaced.
“It’s times like this you realise how supportive the community and the wider education network really is,” he said.
NSW Department of Education Deniliquin Network director of education leadership Derek Noffke echoed Mr Warren’s sentiments, praising students and staff alike.
“I just want to touch on the resilience of our students,” Mr Noffke said.
“They've supported each other, and the staff has supported them.
“And the resilience of our staff - their main priority has been the students.
“I thank them for their work and their passion to get our students back to formal schooling.”
Mr Noffke said the immediate goal is to stabilise learning arrangements for the remainder of the year, with longer term planning to commence once a full assessment of the damage to the site has been completed.
For that reason, he said it’s unclear when the Deni High campus would be opened again.
“At the moment, our short term priority was to get the kids back to school.
“As to what the start of 2026 looks like, it’s very, very early days at the moment, so I can't comment on it at this stage.”
Police and fire investigations into the blaze are ongoing, and anyone with information is urged to contact Deniliquin Police or CrimeStoppers on 1800 333 000.