For many Australian school-leavers, Schoolies represents freedom and festivity. But for a group of Year 12 students from Pacific Hills Christian School, the end of high school was marked not by nightclub wristbands but by village dust and tropical heat in Vanuatu.
Travelling with three supervising teachers, the 28 students spent a week partnering with a local community in a remote area of the island nation. The initiative centred on a children’s outreach program that combined faith-based teaching with practical engagement — sport on open fields, craft sessions under shelter, energetic games and lessons aimed at building everyday life skills.
Beyond structured activities, the group invested time in building relationships with teenagers in the village. Conversations stretched across cultural and linguistic differences, creating space for shared laughter, curiosity and reflection.
Service trips such as this have become an increasingly visible alternative to the party-focused culture traditionally associated with Schoolies in Queensland. Educators say the experience can foster resilience, empathy and leadership at a formative stage of life.
For these students, the journey served as both a celebration and a transition — a final chapter written not on the sand, but in service.
