CaRE stands for Curriculum and Reengagement in Education. In Western Australia, CaRE schools are registered non-government schools that operate under the WA Department of Education specifically to support young people who aren’t engaging with mainstream schooling.
They exist because the education system has always recognised that a standard school environment — large classes, rigid timetables, limited individual support — doesn’t work for every young person. CaRE schools are the alternative built for those who just need a different approach.
So how is a CaRE school different?
The differences go deeper than just smaller class sizes, though that’s part of it. Here’s what sets a CaRE school apart from a mainstream high school:
It starts with the person, not the curriculum.
In mainstream school, the curriculum is fixed and students are expected to fit around it. In a CaRE school, the starting point is the young person — their circumstances, their goals, their barriers — and the education plan is built around them. As our Principal, Paul Jones, puts it: “It’s not about fitting them into our system, it’s about building a system that fits them.”
The staff aren’t just teachers.
At Youth Futures Community School, students have access to teachers, trainers, education assistants, youth workers, social workers, and school administrators all working together around the student. Because sometimes the reason a young person can’t focus in class has nothing to do with the lesson.
Class sizes are genuinely small.
With smaller classes than you’d find in a mainstream school, staff actually know their students — and no one falls through the cracks. Former student and now staff member Emily describes the difference vividly: “Mainstream school was massive and too much. I couldn’t even find my classes, so I was always late. The teachers didn’t seem to care, and I felt like I didn’t belong.” Youth Futures was a different experience entirely: “The environment was happy, friendly, and exciting. I thought, this could work for me.”
Behaviour is understood differently.
Rather than treating disengagement or difficult behaviour as something to discipline, CaRE schools ask what’s behind it. Youth Futures uses a trauma-informed approach, recognising that many young people carry experiences that affect how they show up each day. That context changes everything about how staff respond. “When a young person stops attending, it’s a signal. It’s their way of saying, ‘I’m struggling.’ Our job is to hear that message and respond with compassion, not judgement.” — Puti, Youth Support Development Worker.
The timetable is flexible.
Rigid bells and packed schedules don’t work for everyone. CaRE schools build in flexibility so that young people can engage at a pace that works for them — with enough structure to feel safe, but enough breathing room to actually show up.
