Rahat Arain, co-principal and founder of Al Siraat College, North Epping.
My family moved here from Pakistan when I was five. People might look at me and think I’ve just landed, but I have grown up in Australia. I always wore a headscarf but I chose to cover up fully after I got married.
I was a civil engineer but after I had our five children I did a bachelor of education. I set up Al Siraat College with my husband, Fazeel. It is a 12-hour-a-day, six-day-a-week job to run it, but it is our passion. We draw strength from each other. The school is like our home.
We want to be an innovative learning organisation, committed to working with the community.
We tell our children there are no special favours for being the principals’ children! Our real challenge is spending enough time with them.
We’ve visited a lot of other schools and had a lot of help. People don’t care what background someone’s from, they just want the best for the kids.
