Airdate: Plumpton High Babies: 10 Years On

ABC screens a documentary Plumpton High Babies 10 Years On which revisits three young women we met ten years ago when they were part of an experiment to keep teenage mothers at school.

The doco follows three of the original girls to see what became of them, their education, their careers and their own children.

This is narrated and directed by filmmaker Aviva Ziegler, who has now nurtured a 16-year long relationship with its original subjects.

In Sydney’s outer west, an area known for social problems and one of the highest pregnancy rates in Australia, we spent a year filming at Plumpton High where an idealistic headmaster, Glenn Sargeant, battled to keep a group of teenage mothers, many from disadvantaged backgrounds, at school.

The Plumpton High Young Mothers Programme, instigated by Glenn was unique in the Australian education system and possibly the world.

Through caring, guidance and a will to effect change, the girls were helped through their pregnancies and the difficult transition to motherhood.

The last time we saw the girls, they had all been convinced to continue their education. Now 10 years on, we return to see what happened and whether that bold experiment made any real difference to their often very difficult lives.

Monday November 28 at 9.20pm on ABC.