"Gateway Gave Us Our Son Back” – Toby’s Story at Gateway Community High
Updated: 9 hours ago
There was a time when simply going to school had become incredibly difficult for Toby. His confidence had fallen, his attendance had declined and he had become increasingly withdrawn.
Today, his mum Carey describes a very different teenager: confident, sociable, attending school consistently and beginning to imagine a future that could include university.
Toby had once been a popular and engaged primary school student. But after a difficult transition to high school, friendships became harder to build, his confidence declined and eventually he lost motivation not only for school, but for much of life outside it too.
Today, Toby attends school regularly. He has several groups of friends. He participates in activities he once might have avoided. He talks about his teachers with affection and, importantly, he is beginning to imagine what might come after school.
He has even started talking about going to university to study ancient history.
For Carey, the change can be summed up very simply:
“Gateway gave us our son back. He found his confidence, once he found his tribe - teachers and students who appreciate him for who he is.”
When going to school became harder and harder
Toby had enjoyed primary school, but his transition to high school was difficult.
After missing the normal end to Year 6 during COVID, he moved from a primary school of around 400 students into a high school with approximately 300 students in his year alone.
Maths was already an area where Toby lacked confidence. An upsetting experience early in Year 7 increased his anxiety around the subject.
Soon, not wanting to attend one class became something much bigger.
As Carey explains, once Toby started missing school, he found it increasingly difficult to work out how to return.
His attendance and confidence declined rapidly. He struggled to make friends, became withdrawn and lost much of his motivation.
The family eventually homeschooled Toby through Years 7 and 8.
In Year 9, Toby decided he wanted to try mainstream school again. He wanted the opportunity to learn and socialise with other young people. But the return did not work.
His family knew that Toby still wanted an education and to be around people. What they needed was a different environment in which he could access it.
Finding a different way to experience school
Carey discovered Gateway Community High almost by chance after receiving an email through Macquarie Community College, where she was completing an evening course.
Gateway's approach immediately caught her attention.
For Toby, starting another school was still a significant step.
Carey remembers him as “nervous, determined and hopeful.”
And the first few weeks were not magically easy. Toby initially took a large book with him to read during breaks. It gave him something familiar to retreat into while he found his feet.
Then something started to change. He realised that other students had their own stories and challenges. He did not feel judged for his.
Five weeks after starting, Toby came home with some important news:
He thought he might have made some friends. Carey says he has “never looked back.”
For Theresa Collignon, CEO of Gateway Community High, Toby’s experience reflects the reason the school was created.
“Toby’s story reflects why Gateway Community High was created. Young people can experience significant challenges in one educational environment and thrive in a different setting. When a student begins to feel safe, understood and connected, we see new possibilities begin to emerge because their curiosity and desire to learn returns — along with more confidence in fulfilling their potential.
Seeing a young person reconnect with education, build meaningful relationships and start thinking positively about their future is incredibly rewarding. It is what we hope for every young person who comes through our doors.”
What is different at Gateway?
There wasn't one intervention that changed everything for Toby.
Carey points instead to several parts of the school environment working together: small classes, individualised learning, less disruption, supportive relationships and an absence of judgement.
Every Gateway student has an Individual Learning Plan. For Toby, that meant having individual learning needs was simply part of school life rather than something that made him feel different.
Gateway's broader model deliberately combines personalised attention, individual assistance and small class sizes to help students work towards educational and personal goals.
The school's Wellbeing Framework also incorporates trauma-informed practice, Ready to Learn Plans, Circle groups, Individual Learning Plans, attendance planning, student voice and Wellbeing Wednesdays.
But Carey highlights something less formal as equally important: relationships.
She describes staff as being there when Toby needs them, even when he does not necessarily want to talk about how he is feeling.
Rather than asking only, “Why isn't this student learning?”, Carey felt the approach was closer to: “What can we do to help him get ready to learn?”
For a teenager whose confidence in school had been damaged, that difference mattered.
First belonging. Then learning.
As Toby became more comfortable at school, Carey noticed changes beyond the classroom.
He became more open. He became more willing to participate. And he made friends.
Not just one friend, Carey emphasises, but different groups of friends who share his interests. He now visits friends' homes, plays Dungeons & Dragons with them, goes to parties and spends time with them outside school.
Carey laughingly describes the teenager who had once become withdrawn as “a social butterfly.”
There are smaller signs of change too.
Toby now talks fondly about many of his teachers. On one particularly difficult day, he chose to attend school because a friend was having an even harder time and Toby wanted to be there to support them.
These moments matter because re-engagement with education is not measured first by marks.
Sometimes progress begins with walking through the school gate.
Then finding someone to sit with.
Joining an activity.
Trusting a teacher.
Helping a friend.
And eventually believing that school - and the future beyond it - might have a place for you again.
From struggling to attend to attendance in the high 90s
One of the clearest changes has been Toby's attendance.
Before Gateway, simply getting to school had become a major challenge.
Carey now says his attendance has “shot up to the high 90s.”
That individual experience reflects an important part of Gateway's approach. The school works with students through personalised strategies, including Individual Learning Plans, Ready to Learn practices and attendance planning, while creating opportunities for connection and belonging.
Independent Social Impact Report by Huber Social has also found that connection and supportive relationships strengthen during students' time at the school.
The 2024 and 2025 studies found improvements in student wellbeing and reported that connection, friendships and supportive relationships were being strengthened at Gateway.
Believing in a future again
One of the most meaningful changes is something that cannot be captured by an attendance percentage. Toby is thinking about his future.
The teenager who once struggled to see a way back into school now talks about university and studying ancient history.
For Carey, her son has regained much more than attendance.
“He is confident. He feels seen and loved by people. He is charming, friendly and sociable.”
Gateway's independent social impact research has identified self-worth - including pride, purpose and belief in oneself - as particularly important to the wellbeing of its students.
Toby's experience shows what rebuilding that belief can look like for one young person.
It was not about becoming someone different.
It was about finding an environment where he could become comfortable being himself.
A message for other families
For parents watching their teenager struggle with attendance or disengage from school, changing schools can feel like an enormous decision.
Carey's advice to those families is simple:
“Check out Gateway. The teachers and the student peers understand that people struggle with the traditional school environment - and your teenager could find the support and welcoming space they need to grow into themself.”
Toby's journey is his own. Every young person's experience is different, and a different school environment will not produce the same outcome for every student.
But his story demonstrates something important.
Struggling in one school environment does not necessarily mean a young person has stopped wanting to learn.
Sometimes reconnecting with education starts with finding a place where they feel understood, accepted and able to try again.
For Toby, that place was Gateway Community High where he can Achieve. Belong. Grow.
Our team is deeply grateful to Carey and Toby for trusting us with their story and allowing us to share their experience with other families.
Comments