Schoolies descend on the coast | National News | Breaking National News in Australia

Mountain Creek State High School student hit the water at Mooloolaba Beach to celebrate their last day of School.

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Mountain Creek High graduates celebrate

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THE annual invasion is about to begin as tens of thousands of Year 12 leavers flood to Schoolies on the coast for their rite of passage.

Police are expecting up to 35,000 Schoolies on the Gold Coast this year with a big Friday night ahead.

The officer in charge of Queensland's biggest party says Saturday night will be their most challenging with around 25,000 teenagers likely to pack into the Schoolies Hub on the beach.

Inspector Jeff James, the principal planner and night-time police commander for Schoolies week, said extra police resources had been brought in from across south-east Queensland for 10 days.

While he wouldn't reveal exact numbers, Insp James said there'd be a similar number of police on the streets as there was on New Year's Eve.

"We have significant numbers of police deployed to the Surfers Paradise CBD in particular and we also have support resources that we're quite capable of redeploying elsewhere if they're needed."

An army of volunteers also swing into gear on Friday.

"The Department of Communities are the lead agency and they put an enormous effort into ensuring there's infrastructure in place to support the activities on the beachfront.

"That includes the ambulance treatment centre and the wristband distribution system that's been in place for the last few years."

For the third year a double security fence has been erected around a "Schoolies only" zone.

On the Sunshine Coast the Year 12s screamed, the parents cried and the Year 11 students hung over the school fence wistfully looking on as the graduating class of 2009 burst out of Mountain Creek State High School in a blast of car horns.

In a convoy decorated in colourful graffiti, balloons and streamers, more than 300 students headed to Mooloolaba Beach where they charged into the waves still dressed in their uniforms in what has become a tradition for the school’s graduates.

In the Whitsundays, the Airlie Beach Centre car park will be set up as Schoolies Central, the hub of all activities. Schoolies can register at Schoolies Central, with their school ID card and $25 for the registration fee.

Yeppoon PCYC branch manager Sergeant Greg Jones said a week of festivities was awaiting school leavers including free breakfasts and barbecues, competitions at the beach, and drug and alcohol-free dance parties and movie nights.

"It's a week they can spend to remember rather than one they'd like to forget," he said.

"Yeppoon is pretty unique when it comes to Schoolies Week. We encourage all schoolies to register so they have a photo ID to go to all schoolies related activities, and it's free. All they need to bring is their current school ID to register."

In New South Wales, lifesavers were out early to cater for the Schoolie crowd. Thousands of schoolies are expected to start pouring into Byron Bay today for the official start of schoolies celebrations and, for the first time, lifeguards will patrol beaches throughout the period.

Insp James said the resources which have been put into the Gold Coast event in the last few years, and the security beach fence in particular, have significantly reduced the problem of older teenagers, or `Toolies' trying to crash the celebrations.

"The Toolies aren't welcome, this is an entertainment zone for Year 12 leavers, not for kids who are still in Year 11 and certainly not for those who finished school last year, or the year before that", he said.

"The older ones can go to the nightclubs and the younger ones aren't welcome and should stay home."