TAYLA SUDALL
A Brisbane school for at-risk girls has celebrated its 20th birthday with a reunion lunch for former and current students.
Christine Hill, Principal at Carinity Education Southside, said the school has been working tirelessly since its conception to help women achieve their educational goals, and give them a safe space where they can be themselves.
“In the past 20 years we have witnessed students who thought they were useless on arrival, develop into confident, articulate, contributing members of society, “Ms Hill said.
“The reunion was an opportunity for the entire school community to celebrate and reflect on past achievements.”
Carinity Education Southside was founded in 1997 specifically to help young women deal with problems that would hold them back in other educational environments.
The school offers a variety of services and support to help young women such as a creche for young mothers, breakfast and lunch daily for all students, help with transport for students and their families. The school also aims to close the gap on education for Indigenous Australians.
Ms Hill said the speeches given at the reunion showed current students the opportunities available to them after they graduate and staff a chance to see how their actions have helped.
“It provided current staff and students with inspirational accounts of how the positive changes commenced at Southside have made an ongoing improvement to the quality of life after graduation,” Ms Hill said.
Past student Emily Auguste, gave a speech at the reunion about how the school welcomed her when she was 15 years old and pregnant. Ms Auguste said that even now, years after graduating from the school, she still thinks of the school and the staff that work there as her “second family”.
If you would like to find out more about the school you can visit their website here.
