Counsellors to help grieving Lockhart

Members of a small NSW community reeling from the shooting deaths of a much-loved local family are being urged to seek counselling and not to bottle up their feelings.

The 900-strong Riverina town of Lockhart needs answers as to how three children came to be shot along with their mother, as police continue their investigation into the tragedy after discovering the father's body in a dam on the Boree Creek Rd property.

Lockhart Shire Council is coordinating counselling services for the distraught community, and like police before him, Mayor Peter Yates has urged those facing difficulty to seek help and for locals to look out for anyone who may be struggling.

"Farming has its highs and has its lows," he told AAP on Thursday.

"I just encourage people to make contact with council, make contact with their neighbours to see that they're alright, and if they think there's an issue, there's help available."

The deaths of Kim Hunt, 41, and her three children Fletcher, 10, Mia, eight, and Phoebe, six, has baffled locals, who say there were no signs Mr Hunt, 44, or his wife were unhappy in the lead up to the deaths.

The bodies of the mother and children were found at their homestead on Tuesday.

Police said a gun was found with Mr Hunt's body, which was located in the dam on Wednesday.

Mr Yates said people in small communities, particularly men, had a tendency to bottle things up so counselling services would be kept as private as possible.

"(Men) bottle it up and don't like to express themselves, but we've got to work together," he said.

"We're a small community. We know each other, and the main thing is to help each other overcome this issue."

Mr Yates's plea for locals to seek help came as the principal of St Joseph's Primary described her three former pupils as "beautiful kids".

"We'll miss them hugely," Debbie Sheather told reporters outside the Catholic school in Lockhart, west of Wagga Wagga.

"They loved to smile. They loved to chat and tell people about what they'd been doing. They were always full of laughs."

The school's Australian flag again flew at half mast, as grieving children arrived on Thursday morning.

Counselling is being provided to students, who've been urged to talk to family and friends about their grief.

They are also being encouraged to hold on to good memories of their classmates.

"We talked a lot about that yesterday - Fletcher's and Phoebe's and Mia's favourite things and favourite games," Ms Sheather said.

"We'll do a lot of the same today."

The school has about 70 students.