Christies Beach High School: Inside the Adelaide school supporting young mums to achieve their SACE
“I thought I had no option but to drop out – now I’m studying law.” One Adelaide school is refusing to give up on SA’s teenage mums and the rewards for its effort are quite remarkable.
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On a break from class, young mum Yasmin looks adoringly at her little girl, Isla, and asks, “How can there really be problems in the world when we have beautiful children like this?”.
The year 12 student is preparing for school holidays and she’s in no hurry for the end-of-term bell to go, relishing spending time with her classmates.
Yasmin, 20, is one of about 30 young mums currently enrolled in a special program run out of Christies Beach High School that allows those who’ve had their schooling disrupted by pregnancy to finish school and achieve their SACE.
Enrolment in the Young Mum’s Program, offered as part of the flexible learning options (FLO) to women aged 23 and under at the southern suburbs school, is voluntary.
With rattles and dolls scattered across tabletops and a small area sectioned off for play, the school space is uniquely set up to accommodate both learner and her bub.
Teacher and program co-ordinator Del Brownridge says the fact her students choose to return to school in a bid to build a brighter future for themselves and their children can’t be underestimated.
These bright young women, many from disadvantaged or difficult backgrounds, are the antithesis of stereotypical school dropouts, fiercely determined to finish their schooling and to go on to further education or find meaningful work.
“For many of them, they are the first in their family to achieve year 12, so when they go up on stage to graduate, it is a proud moment,” she said.
“I don’t have words to describe how proud of them I am, it is unbelievable … I am just beaming with pride.
“Despite all the obstacles and barriers they’ve faced, they are wanting to get their education … to see them blossom and their self-confidence grow as they move forward to make a better life for themselves brings me so much joy – to think I have played a part in that.”
A specialist accounting and economics teacher, Mrs Brownridge has taught across almost all subject areas in her 21 years at the school, moving into her current role seven years ago.
She is tasked with helping her students complete their year 11 and 12 subjects to meet SACE requirements – including the compulsory research project component – supported by youth workers.
“For their research project a lot choose to study things such as brain development or child nutrition as they want learning that is purposeful, … they want to learn more, to gain knowledge and skills,” she said.
The post-school success stories are many and varied with most later pursuing TAFE or university studies, finding careers in retail, health, childcare and disability services. Nursing is popular.
“Today I had an email from a former student … who has been accepted to study law in 2023,” Mrs Brownridge said.
“She emailed to say she wouldn’t be where she is today, if it wasn’t for the support she got in this classroom.”
The broad-smiling teacher stops several times during this interview to engage with the littlest people in the room, smiling as a toddler approaches her for a fist pump.
“You have to build trust over time,” Mrs Brownridge said.
“(For many), I am the only stable person in their lives.
“They know I am going to be here when they come tomorrow and many say I show their kids more love than their own family … one of the first words the babies say is ‘Dell’.
“They see this as their safe space … they can be themselves, they know their kids are safe.
“They’ll say ‘why do we have to have holidays?’”
Rather than a strict 9am to 3.30pm, a student’s timetable is flexible, to meet the demands of bringing up a young child and allow for things such as their baby’s routine development checks.
The time taken for students to complete their SACE will depend on commitments outside the classroom.
Mrs Brownridge says students learn as much from each other, as they do through formal studies. “Here they find a sense of community,” she said.
Youth workers Leah Stacey and Sandie Treloar agree, adding the young women admit to feeling judged in everyday life situations, such as catching public transport with their child or doing their grocery shopping.
“We try to build up their confidence and their capacity to see themselves through our eyes, as we see them,” Ms Treloar said.
“We have such admiration for them, they are such a resilient bunch of girls and just seeing them achieve their own goals, to feel proud about what they have achieved, is amazing,” Ms Stacey said, adding it was “a privilege” to provide the students with wellbeing support.
“They really want to create a better life for themselves and to watch them develop and mature as they go about achieving that for themselves is fantastic.”
“(Working with them) has definitely changed me and changed my perspective on the way that I look at all different aspects of my life.”
When Abby, now 24 and working full-time for the Legal Services Commission, learned as a teenager she was pregnant she was told by her learning provider it had no place for her, with no insurance cover for pregnant students.
“I thought that I had no other option but to drop out and that I would never get to finish year 12 – (that I wouldn’t) get a career to support my child,” she said.
“A friend mentioned ‘Young Mum’s’ … having access to this program has done more than I think (those involved in) the program know … they offered so much emotional support, not just schooling – I became a better person (and) now want to be the best I can be.
“(Lessons learned) I now use everyday, thinking outside the box and thinking of ways I can respond to situations … in February, 2023, I start my six-year process to obtain my law degree.”
Principal of Christies Beach High School, which has a student enrolment of 890, Graham Clark said continuity of learning was important for all students, including young parents who might otherwise fall through the cracks.
“Hearing stories (such as Abby’s) is what we are here for and what keeps us going,” he said.
“It is the outcome we aspire for every young person, particularly those who have overcome challenges and hurdles and who have been able to draw on the support offered to them, to achieve their personal goals.”
Students’ stories: Why this school worked for me
Former student Alyshia, 23, and Amelia 5:
Now working full-time in the disability sector after completing her SACE and TAFE studies, Alyshia plans to become a registered nurse.
She is the first person in her family to have completed year 12.
While she was able to attend her high school while pregnant, she could not return after having Amelia but was able to get a spot at Christies Beach High School in the Young Mum’s Program, starting when her little girl was three months old.
“It meant a lot knowing I could finish my schoolwork. (Without this program), I wouldn’t have been able to do it,” she said.
“I am the first one in my whole family to finish year 12, so that was a massive thing I wanted to do.
“I now want to go on and do my registered nursing … and that will be a massive thing for me to finish.”
Alyshia said she formed a tight bond, not just with the teachers and youth workers but also her classmates, who chipped in to help put her through TAFE (Certificate III Individual Support).
“You help each other find jobs, find houses … we’d just be there for each other and we went through everything together,” she said.
Current student Yasmin, 20, and Isla, 2:
Yasmin, who is currently working on her research project, is hoping to move into a trade when she has her SACE, perhaps ending up in the mining industry.
She says she is determined to be a role model for her little girl – and finishing year 11 and 12 is a big part of that.
“It’s a big thing for me … I know I can get a job without it but getting year 12 has always been a big, big goal for me, since graduating in year 7,” Yasmin said.
“Being able to bring her with me makes it so much easier for me. I am so thankful for this place because I am able to achieve my goal now.
“It helps that the other students have their children with them also, so if Isla is having an off day, I don’t feel like my kid is the only one mucking up.
“It just works. Everyone helps each other.”
Current student Elizabeth, 23, and baby Ragnar:
Elizabeth never finished school, deciding to leave at year 11. Fast forward several years and she fell pregnant, with her son, Ragnar now nine months old.
Becoming a mum was the catalyst for her wanting to return to the classroom to get her SACE.
“I realised I needed to start getting my life together and actually be more responsible … (my baby) inspired me to want to come back and finish my education,” the now 23-year-old said.
Once she completes her SACE, Elizabeth is hoping to get into hairdressing, her goal to one day own her own salon.
“Being here, having all the support that I have, means a lot … I’ve struggled in the past but since I have had Ragnar, I am just looking forward, focusing on moving onwards and upwards,” she said.
Former student, Alicia, 22, has son Xavier, 5, and daughter Briar, 3.
This quietly-spoken mum of two is in her final stages of a Certificate III (Beauty Therapy).
Alicia enrolled in the Young Mum’s Program when Briar was a baby.
“I wanted to get my SACE for myself and my kids, to prove I could do it,” she said.
“I am very proud of myself.”
She said she was motivated by classmates and their individual stories.
“It helped me to understand other people’s stories and know I was not the only one going through … that we were achieving goals together,” she said.
Alicia, who acknowledges she’d been a bit “on and off” with schooling in the past, said she couldn’t have got through without the support of her teacher and support workers.
“Those relationships were very important … they have an understanding of what we are going through and I am so grateful to have had their support to help me get through,” she said.
The program’s flexibility, too, was key.
“It was really important because we juggle so much in the day,” she said.
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