New Norfolk student Jemma Foley is in year 11.
It might not seem like an extraordinary achievement, but in her town, just 32 kilometres from Hobart, she is part of a small but growing number of students finishing school.
In 2016, New Norfolk High, the town's only high school, expanded to offer years 11 and 12.
It's now one of nearly 50 Tasmanian high schools which offer senior education, in parallel with the college system.
The expansion is part of the State Government's strategy to improve retention rates.
Jemma is the first person in her immediate family to make it to the senior years of her education.
"I wasn't really sure if I'd be able to keep up with the attendance for school, I wasn't really motivated to go to school," Jemma said.
"I was looking at getting a job straight out of year 10."
Transport, attitudes were barriers in the past
Before the school expanded, New Norfolk students wanting to complete their senior education would have to make the journey to college in Hobart.
Many locals consider the public transport links to the town unreliable and infrequent.
"I [would have] had to travel into town basically and catch a bus every day to go to school and back and by the time I had work, it would have been harder," Jemma said.
Some of Jemma's peers live even further away from New Norfolk, making that journey even longer.
"Being in the place and not really knowing anyone, [being in a] new area, that would've been a challenge," she said.
"That's definitely something that was stopping me from going to school down [Hobart] way."
Since the school's expansion four years ago, the senior cohort at New Norfolk High has grown to 53 students.
For Jemma it means the barriers that once stopped her from finishing school have disappeared.
"I know my way around here, it's a lot more relaxed and not as stressful as it would've been down at a different school," she said.
She hopes to join the Navy as a nurse after year 12.
"I'm feeling good about how I'm going and it's motivated me to do a lot more with my life, get my job and everything's coming together."
Strategy will take time to kick in
While enrolments into the senior cohort at New Norfolk High have grown each year, the number of year 10s who are directly continuing into years 11 and then 12 has dropped off in recent years.
Data from the Office of Tasmanian Assessment, Standards & Certification showed that last year, 52 per cent of students who completed year 10 at the school went on to do year 12.
Four years ago, it was 61 per cent.
While cohort numbers were still small, the school said and there were still big differences in students' ambitions, cohort to cohort.
Principal Stuart Lord acknowledged change did not happen overnight.
He said for many families, parents would not have completed year 12 "because it's just not what was done at the time".
"So it's a big transition and it's a cultural shift and awareness that we need to build about the way things are today," he said.
The example of graduating students may help turn the tide, he said.
"We have three students this year that have gotten into [the University of Tasmania] and just having them as a role model for other students is really important."
