End-of-year school presentation nights are exciting for any student, but when 12-year-old Mason Nairne of Coonamble Public School received a Bravery Award, it almost had him in tears.

“It was very exciting on the day. Everyone was getting an award, I was sitting in my seat and didn’t even know about it,” Mason said.

Mason and his friend Dane Dennis both received bravery and merit awards, respectively, from NSW Police and the Department of Education. 

The awards recognised the two boys, who walked 10 kilometres to find help when Mason’s grandfather had become trapped under a tree on a fishing trip in a remote area in 2022. 

While Mason's grandfather - Coonamble’s former mayor and beloved school bus driver - could not be saved, his grandson is proving a chip off the old block and has already gone on to show great promise and leadership skills.

Last year, in Year 6, he brought forward the idea of starting a fish farm to support an aquaponics system at the school.

“Aquaponics is when you use fish poo and yabby poo to grow vegetables. It grows them heaps fresher and a lot healthier than regular plants,” Mason said. 

“I was down the back (of the school) and there was a circle of rocks that I was going to dig out to make a pond.

Mason Nairne releasing fish into the tank. (Supplied)

“I asked if we could put yabbies and fish in there, and Ms Gray said we could turn it into a fish farm.”

Mason also spent the year as school captain, and amongst 92 submissions was awarded an Outback Archies People’s Choice Award.

“There were a lot of challenges in being school captain but it was really good," he said.

“There was no-one I didn’t like.”

This year, Mason will start Year 7 at Farrer Memorial Agricultural High School in Tamworth.