Carinity Education students step out at school formal

Students of Carinity Education Southside in Brisbane have celebrated their school formal in style – with the help of past graduates.

Past pupils returned to their old school to help current students look glamorous for their big night, by doing their hair and make-up.

“Many of our young women can’t afford to go to a hairdresser and spend hundreds of dollars getting their hair and make-up done in a salon,” Carinity Education Southside Principal Christine Hill says.

“We’re very fortunate that some of our past students who graduated a few years ago, and have since gone on to work in the fields of hair and beauty, have come back to assist the girls to get ready for their formal.

“It’s a sense of the older birds who’ve left the nest coming back to feed the younger ones.

“It’s really a symbol of the fact that here at Carinity we’re a family and once you join the family you’re always part of the family. You always belong.”

Carinity Education Southside graduate Paige, who now works as a mobile make-up and hair artist, says preparing current students for their big night is “quite exhilarating”.

“I love seeing the girls dressed up and the fuss they go through just to get to the final stage,” she says.

Mrs Hill says the school formal is a “very special occasion” for “young women who have worked so hard all year.”

“For any Year 12 student it is hard to complete Grade 12 but for our young women who have other aspects of their lives that are causing challenge, it makes it just that much harder,” she says.

Carinity provides education, vocational training and mentoring for students having difficulty succeeding in traditional schools.

Carinity Education Southside helps with meals, a flexible curriculum, and a school crèche for students who are mothers.

Rhiannon, one of 11 students to graduate from Carinity Education Southside this year, attended the school formal with her brother who dropped out of high school early and had never attended a school formal.

“Three years ago I probably wouldn’t have been graduating but the school has given me that opportunity,” she says.

Carinity Education Southside is one of Carinity’s four Queensland schools, the others being at Rockhampton, Hervey Bay and Gladstone.

To find out more, call 07 3550 3737 or visit the Carinity Education website.