Carinity Education Gladstone is preparing to farewell the school’s first cohort of Year 12 students.
Sixteen students will make history when they graduate from the school this Friday.
Completing high school is an achievement many of the graduating students once thought might not be possible.
“I left my old school due to many reasons, mostly because I never went to class as I couldn’t understand the work, the bullying and I was not happy,” graduating student Ambur explains.
“My life has changed since coming to Carinity. Before then I always felt like I wouldn’t graduate from high school.
“Carinity has a great team of people that made me feel like I am meant to be at school. They have given me and others a chance when other schools haven’t.”
As well as overcoming barriers to education, the students had to overcome challenges presented by COVID-19 in their senior year.
Principal Jane Greenland has a “sense of pride” in the young people at Carinity Education Gladstone for their “determination to regain momentum with their education” after struggling at other schools.
“I also have a sense of privilege to have had the opportunity to get to know these wonderful individuals and participate in their growth and learning,” Jane says.
“I am excited about the opportunity to celebrate the students’ achievements, their individuality and the good that we know they will take into the world beyond school.”
Carinity Education Gladstone opened in 2017 with 23 students and currently has 104 students. Five members of the class of 2020 have been at the school since it opened.