By the fourth term of Year 8, Sam Norman, now 17, had stopped attending school. Bullying and falling grades convinced him it was best not to go back.
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"I wanted to drop out. I didn't really care what happened," Sam said. "I just stayed at home and played video games."
The Year 12 student was one of a cohort of 14 at Cooks Hill Campus, an annex of Newcastle High School, who graduated on Wednesday.
The small school, run in partnership with Big Picture Education, offers a self-directed learning program, which makes it an alternative option for disengaged students to complete their secondary education.
Because the campus does not teach HSC courses, this week marks the end of school for most of its Year 12 cohort. School-leavers from other high schools will begin HSC exams on October 17.
The campus' leader Quinn Robertson said the graduation was emotional because each of the students had their "own story to tell" in regards to graduating. In Sam's case, the school's model of learning rekindled his interest in his future.
"I went from Cs and Ds to As and Bs, academically. It took me a couple of years to reignite some lost passions about working in emergency services," he said.
Through the school's internship program, Sam has completed training for the State Emergency Service and is a volunteer in Newcastle's unit. He wants to become a police officer and plans to complete a Bachelor of Criminal Justice after taking a bridging course.
His peer Emily Hicks, 18, is preparing an academic portfolio as an alternative method of entry into a bachelor of psychological science at the University of Newcastle. As part of the portfolio, she has written a 2,500-word academic thesis on social psychology.
She said a few years ago she did not think university was "necessarily an option for her". While in Year 7 at Maitland Grossmann High School she suffered hearing loss and now experiences severe to profound deafness if she is not wearing hearing aids. The change made class "difficult" and midway through Year 8 she began experiencing seizures too. By Year 9, she was having an episode "almost every day" due to epilepsy and anxiety.
"I was missing a lot of school," she said.
A teacher recommended Big Picture because of its flexible structure, which meant Emily could work from home and when she was away for dance competitions.
In her academic projects at the school, Emily noticed a "pattern of interest in psychology" and realised it was something she wanted to pursue further.
"Because I was passionate about it, not just for the sake of it," Emily said.
Mya Amosa, 18, who gave a speech at the gradation ceremony said school had also changed her "a lot".
"I used to be a small, shy, girl who never spoke. This school has made me the most confident person I can be and I am just happy with who I am," Mya said.
The 18-year-old is starting a TAFE course next year in music production and is currently recording her own vocals, rap and poetry under the moniker Miss M.
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