So, yesterday in a sea of green, and with the support of the school’s families and friends, they held a special fundraiser for the McDonalds and their daughter Kate.

Twenty-eight-year-old Kate was seriously injured in an accident in January, severing her spinal cord.

She has been in hospital and rehabilitation ever since, the McDonalds spending as much time with her in Sydney as they can.

School spokeswoman Wendy Pearson said it was the students who came up with the idea for the fundraiser, school captains Charlotte Kesby and Phoebe Reynolds approaching her with some ideas.

Yesterday, after a special assembly and Easter hat parade, the school’s 32 students surprised their much-loved principal with a day of fundraising for his family.

Students dressed in lime green, the colour representing spinal injuries, and organised a range of raffles and stalls, which all had a green theme: plants, green-iced cakes, green fruit salad and the like.

The P&C sold bacon and egg rolls for lunch, and while a final tally is yet to be confirmed, Mrs Pearson said they were hopeful of more than $1000.

For Mr McDonald it was all something of a surprise, with students, teachers and parents going to great lengths to keep the fundraiser a secret.

He was “a bit emotional” when all was finally revealed, Mrs Pearson said, though the whole school community was feeling the emotion of the day.