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Dear Families, 
My name is Jody Mercer, I am the Defence School Mentor (DSM) at Kirwan State High School. My role as the school's DSM is to be a point of contact for ADF families looking to enrol or already enrolled at Kirwan SHS, as well as providing ongoing support for children of ADF members.
I am a current spouse of a serving member and I am passionate about the wellbeing of Defence families and supporting both students and their families.
I am available Monday – Friday 8:30am – 2:45pm. If you have any queries or would like to speak with me, please feel free to contact me via the school office (07) 4773 8111 or via my email jmerc69@eq.edu.au.
Kirwan State High School has one of the highest population of children from ADF Families in Townsville. Kirwan SHS recognises the inherent demands of the Australian Defence Force lifestyle and the impact it can have on its students and families. Together Kirwan SHS and Family Support (DMFS) employs a Defence School Mentor to assist our Defence Families.
The Defence School Mentor Program is an initiative through the Defence Member and Family Support to minimise the impact of the mobile lifestyle on Defence students' education. The DSM Program assists Defence students and their families with changing schools, integrating into the school community and providing support during parental absences.
This DSM program allows the employment of DSM to work within Kirwan State High School to raise awareness of the Defence lifestyle and provide support for Defence Students (A Defence student is defined as a primary or secondary school student who is a dependent of a full time serving member of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) or a Defence member on a CTFS contract).
The Program administered by the Defence Member and Family Support (DMFS) is a reflection of the commitment by Defence to support its members and their families and recognises the partnership between education authorities, Defence and schools.
The Program aims to assist Defence students in four key areas throughout their education and as they move from one school to another.
The key areas are:
- Welcoming and farewelling students
- School Integration support;
- Parental absence support; and
- Student Welfare support.
Most importantly the DSM program provides a friendly point of contact for any assistance defence family's need either within the school or within the Defence Community.
Through this program the Kirwan State High School DSM will be able to provide defence family's the following outcomes:
- facilitation of a supportive educational environment for Defence families during times of change;
- establishment of ongoing programs and resources for use during and beyond the life of the Program;
- linkage of Defence families into their local school community; and
- provision of education resources to support the Defence student's wellbeing.
The DSM is also available to assist families in applying for the DMFS Education Assistance Scheme for more information on the Education Assistance Scheme please see here:
https://defence.gov.au/members-families/Family/kids/education.asp