When Forbes High School student Isabella Brown started Year 11 in 2023 there was a sinking feeling that things couldn’t get much worse.

She’d battled through the impacts of COVID, saw floods rampage through her family property in Bedgerebong on multiple occasions and didn’t go to school for 16 weeks.

“My learning just kind of stopped,” recalled Isabella, who admitted to constantly doubting her own abilities.

“I didn't get to do my year 10 exams and felt a bit lost. I struggled with the workloads and my mental health.”

Fast forward two years and Isabella, who became school captain, was named dux of the school with an ATAR of 92.7.

She’s now preparing to undertake a physiotherapy degree at Charles Sturt University in Orange.

The remarkable turnaround in Isabella’s fortunes was in part due to her own resilience but also guidance from a school and community that had had gone through these tough times alongside her.

Principal Kath Maksymczuk said the years of turmoil had made the school very solution focused.

“We’d certainly had our share of issues. In 2022 we had one student sitting the final exam on the last day coming to school via a rural fire truck,” Ms Maksymczuk said.

“The floods coming straight after COVID left very deep psychological impacts across the community and were ongoing and we just had to get back to business as quickly as we could and return to some kind of normality.”

With the help of Ms Maksymczuk and PDHPE head teacher, Justin Hoy, Isabella had a five-week study plan mapped out for her, structuring how and what to study and when.

Learning issues were addressed before they became bigger stumbling blocks and classroom teachers supported her with regular catchups.

Ms Maksymczuk had regular meetings with Isabella and they worked on her reading and vocabulary skills for Advanced English.

“I found the most support was from my teachers. I developed a really close relationship with them, and then they supported me throughout,” Isabella said.

“I loved talking, just catching up. It wasn't always just talking about school either but general life stuff as well. And they just support you in all areas of life.”

While tailored for Isabella, this mentorship wasn’t just specific to her, the Year 12 cohort of 21 students all benefiting from the assistance.

Another student, Grace Barbary, achieved a Band 6 in Korean Continuers which she studied through the NSW School of Languages.

For Isabella, the sense of community in Forbes remains key.

She’s already landed a job assisting at a local physiotherapist around her time at university and has no plans to base in the big smoke.

“I'm definitely a homebody, and I like being with my family and friends, and just not a big fan of the city,” she said.

“I wanted to stay local so I could come home when I needed to and go back to uni when I needed to as well, sort of come back and work and serve my community, just like they helped me.”