The Wire

Schools out and exams are over so now’s the time to party for students leaving their final year – to get an idea of just how popular the event is, there will be about 100 000 people dispersed across nine locations in Australia. But it’s not all glamour and fun as schoolies is well known for reasons both good and bad, John Hendry is the Director of Student Welfare at Geelong Grammar School and he explains how schoolies is not the place of fun it’s made out to be. But not everyone agrees schoolies is just about alcohol. In South Australia a team of about 500 volunteers head down to Victor Harbor and run alcohol-free entertainment to coincide with the event. Christy Spier is the co-ordinator of Encounter Schoolies and she explains what they do to make schoolies the fun and safe place to party.