St Aloysius Catholic Primary School understands the unique needs of students with a parent/s in the Australian Defence Force. We have a Defence School Mentor to support our Defence students and their families. It is important for these children and their families to make connections and to integrate within the school and the wider community.
Defence students look forward to the monthly morning teas provided by the St Aloysius DSM. Each term there is also a coffee morning for the Defence parents and an out of school hours event for the whole family.
Students send care packages to a parent deployed and make ‘Welcome Home’ signs for their return. Extra support is given to those students during parental absence.
At St Aloysius, we welcome parent involvement and are happy to arrange a meeting to discuss any aspect of the student’s wellbeing and educational journey.
Our Defence School Mentor is a teacher, mother of three and a Defence spouse of 20 years with a great understanding of the Defence lifestyle and all that it entails.
Program’s Mission
The program’s mission is to assist Defence students and their families in four key areas throughout their education and as they transition from one school to another.
The key areas are:
- Welcoming
- Integrating
- Absence support
- Farewelling
What benefits does the Defence School Mentor Program provide?
- Facilitating a supportive educational environment for Defence families during times of change
- Establishing ongoing programs and resources for use during and beyond the life of the program
- Helping link Defence families into their local community
- Providing a conduit to education and community resources to support Defence children’s wellbeing.
DCO is committed to the continuation of the program, a key component of the delivery of support to alleviate the significant school challenges encountered by Defence families due to frequent relocations in the course of their service.
For more information about the role of our DSM please see the link below:
