When Kelso High School burned to the ground in August last year, it was a sad day for school education in the Bathurst region. But now a new secondary college concept is rising from the ashes, sparked by a unique collaboration between Kelso and Bathurst High Schools, the local community, TAFE and Charles Sturt University (CSU). Mr Mike Tom, a project manager with the Department of Education and Training (DET) says the new school will share curriculum in years 11 and 12 with Bathurst High School and he is hoping the project will encourage even greater cooperation with CSU. A “critical friend” in the process according to Mr Tom, is Dr Alan Bain, an expert in school renewal from CSU’s School of Teacher Education. Dr Bain worked on a number of public, private and charter school reform and renewal projects in the US and internationally before coming to Bathurst a few years ago. Dr Bain says while secondary college collaborations do exist in other parts of the state and country, the circumstances in Bathurst are unique with a TAFE and University in the same town. “It’s an opportunity for a different kind of collaboration, being driven by a series of unfortunate and traumatic events but nonetheless with the promise of  producing something powerful. It has immense potential for CSU, TAFE and for other schools,” Dr Bain says.