FOR 30 weeks, Laura Perceval carried the weight of a massive secret.
Her first pregnancy was devoid of all the usual emotions, there were no excited shopping trips for baby clothes, no nesting ready for her child's arrival and no-one to ask for advice.
She felt scared, anxious and alone.
"I remember going and getting the test and I didn't believe it, I kept it in my drawer and didn't tell anyone," Ms Perceval said.
"I missed a lot of the excitement, I missed getting to have a good connection with the family and preparing for a baby with my daughter's father.
"It was such a traumatic experience - so much pain and anxiety in the pregnancy waiting for people to notice, and no one did for a really long time."
Pregnancy is daunting for most, but at just 17 - with no job and little support, she was forced to drop out of school.
But, with the help of St Philip's Christian College, where she now works, she joined the Young Parents Program at 19 - determined to reopen doors she thought were closed.
"A lot of times I may have fallen behind and the class teacher would hold my child while I finished what I needed to," Ms Perceval said.
"It was life-changing, I wouldn't have had what I have now without that program ... that work they put into me, helping my children and that extra time and support.
"It was really comforting, everyone that was there was in the exact same position and we all wanted more, we didn't want to be where we were anymore."
The program at Wyong and Waratah allows young parents to study with their children alongside them at a dedicated childcare service.
St Philip's plans to expand the service to Kurri Kurri and would like to see a wider rollout of the program, but funding it is a challenge, the school's chief executive officer Graeme Irwin said.
"We need governments to be a bit more sympathetic with this, to see the need and potential and make it easier for people to do something like this," he said.
"So many people have looked at the model but as far as I'm aware - nobody has started one.
"That tells you something, which is that it's difficullt and only crazy people like us went ahead and did it anyway."
Australian Association of Christian Schools executive officer Vanessa Cheng said they would love to see other schools take it up.
"In terms of the funding model there are a lot of challenges with long-term viability of the program, so we have asked the government to look at the red tape when parents reapply for the childcare benefit," she said.
Under current funding arrangements, there isn't a specific loading to support young parents in school, according to Association of Independent Schools of NSW chief executive Dr Geoff Newcombe.
"This may be something for the NSW government to consider when it commences negotiations with the Commonwealth about the next school funding agreement for all sectors," he said.
