Sarah Miglioranza and Archie Williamson, aged twelve, are preparing for their first day at Palm Beach State High School

Entering school gates for the first time can be daunting - but it’s not so bad when your best mate is by your side. Just ask Sarah and Archie, who are about to do it for the second time in seven years.

Archie Williamson 12 and his still best friend Sarah Miglioranza 12 were interviewed by the Gold Coast Bulletin on their first day of Prep in 2017 and are now weeks away from their last day of primary school at Palm Beach State school. Both are heading to PBC next year and are still best friends. Picture Glenn Hampson

Sarah Miglioranza and Archie Williamson were best mates when they started prep seven years ago and the soon-to-be primary graduates – who will have their last day on Friday December 13 – are about to start high school the same way.

Sarah and Archie before their first day of school. Photo by Richard Gosling

But it’s a little different this time around.

Archie Williamson 12 and his still best friend Sarah Miglioranza 12 were interviewed by the Gold Coast Bulletin on their first day of Prep in 2017 and are about to start high school together. Picture Glenn Hampson

Instead of excitement over learning to read and write, Archie and Sarah are now looking forward to some new adventures at Palm Beach Currumbin State High School (PBC).

“I’m a bit of an art fan. I made it in for art excellence, so that will be pretty cool. I’m also excited to just get out of primary school, I’m pretty sick of it, been doing it for six years,” Archie said.

“I reckon I’m pretty excited about not having to write in your book as much and new teachers as well.

“That’ll be exciting, because if you get one teacher that’s bad, at least you can look forward to another teacher that’s good.”

For Sarah, courts will be as important as classrooms.

“I’m excited about going home on Mondays at 1.30pm and also, I made it into sport excellence for netball and academic excellence too,” she said.

“I’m excited to see what the netball training is like at PBC, and I’m excited to learn new things.”

Sarah Miglioranza and Archie Williamson at the Pirate Park before their first day of school, Palm Beach. Photo by Richard Gosling

While the transition from primary to high school can be hard, Sarah said it was special to be making the journey with the same best friend.

“It’s been easier, because we can just talk to each other and because we’re not the same gender, we can kind of talk about our friends without anyone else kind of knowing about it,” she said.

“It’s nice to know we’ll always have each other.”

Archie and Sarah are about to start high school together. Picture Glenn Hampson

Sarah and Archie are also heading into high school with some goals in mind for their future careers.

“I want to be a grade six teacher, or I want to be a high school netball coach,” Sarah said.

And Archie? “I’ll probably be, maybe a professional skateboarder.”

Originally published as Sarah Miglioranza and Archie Williamson, aged twelve, are preparing for their first day at Palm Beach State High School