Last option became the saving grace for student

One of the girls in Bronte House is 15 and she’s been attending for about a year now.

Prior to that her attendance was around 20 per cent, among the lowest in the South Island.

If she came to school it was to fight. She says she used to plan it.

"I wasn’t allowed in mainstream school because I was beating up too many people, because of my anger it was only because my family were beating me up at the time.

"I was really angry I don’t know why, I think it was just because of my family and what I was going through."

She was in trouble with the police a lot.

"I was doing community service, threatening to bash the police. I was in heaps of trouble."

"My plan was to go to juvie because my home life was so bad."

Bronte House was her last option.

She says the big change was someone caring about her.

"My family were always drinking and stuff and Miss Hunter was sober. I was always happy to come to school and speak to someone sober. Someone so caring. She showed me so much love."

It took a while for her to fully engage.

"I was still vulnerable. My thing was to fight I’d seen so much of it."

I couldn’t believe she would take us on. I was like; ‘You wouldn’t be able to handle us’ but everyday she would call in."

She says the turning point was witnessing a fight and seeing how much it hurt the other person.

"Then I told Miss Hunter; ‘I don’t want to be the person that does that anymore and I want to be a leader’. I’ve done heaps of leadership courses and the others look up to me."

Now she is steadily chipping away at her NCEA credits with the ultimate aim of joining the police force.