Three students are completing their final year at the beleaguered Papakura High School. Along with their inspirational new principal, the students and school are fighting perceptions and decline in order to survive.
At the edge of the city and the margins of society, a school and its students are fighting back.
Papakura High School has a falling roll, and as far as results go, it's among the worst schools in the country.
The buildings are under-maintained and morale is low. Staff andstudents fear closure. Its community faces huge challenges: homelessness, low incomes, limited education and a high crime rate.
Many families with money send their children to "better" schools on the other side of the railway tracks.
