Defence Mentor News

Kelly Quigg-Akkersdyk
Defence School Mentor
Kelly.Quigg@education.vic.gov.au

JUNE BIRTHDAYS

Happy birthday to the following students in June; Cooper, Rylie, Lilly, Isla and Axl.

At Seymour College, all defence students who celebrate a birthday each month are recognised:

Secondary School students will receive a canteen voucher.
Primary students will receive a Showcase voucher.

If you’re celebrating your birthday this month, please be sure to come and see me either at Defence Club or in my office at the Wellbeing Centre to collect your voucher.

We hope you all have a wonderful birthday!

Defence Club

Now that we’re officially in winter, we hope all our Defence families are staying warm and cosy! At Defence Club, we’ve got the heaters on and the fun flowing.

This week in Defence Club, we kicked off a new Tuesday activity called Getting to Know You—and it comes with a sweet twist! We’ve been playing the Smartie Game, where students pick a coloured Smartie and answer a fun question to help us all learn a little more about each other. It’s been full of laughs and great conversations, and the kids are absolutely loving it.

Tuesdays continue to offer arts and crafts alongside our new icebreaker games, while Thursdays remain our delicious afternoon tea sessions in the library with cakes and slices on offer.

It’s a warm and welcoming space each week and we love seeing so many smiling faces!

Supporting Defence Families

A gentle reminder to all Defence families: please update us with any changes to your circumstances, such as new addresses, relocations, postings, or even if your partner is away on course for a few weeks. Keeping this information current helps us provide the right support for your child and cater to their individual needs. It’s all part of the Defence School Mentor program’s commitment to supporting our families.

Kookaburra Kids

This program is dedicated to supporting the unique needs of children from serving and ex-serving ADF families has been made possible by the Australian Government. For registrations or more information kookaburrakids.org.au, or contact Scott White, the Defence Community Liaison Officer Victoria on 1300 566 525 or email scott.white@kookaburrakids.org.au

https://kookaburrakids.org.au/defence-program/

Defence Special Needs Support Group

Defence works with the Defence Special Needs Support Group http://dsnsg.org.au/ to offer additional assistance to Defence families with a family member with special needs. Offering resources, equipment, services, guidance, and a community of individuals who understand the unique challenges faced by Defence families.puckapunyal@dsnsg.org.au

https://www.dsnsg.org.au/find-a-dsnsg-group/victoria/item/puckapunyal

Open Arms for health professionals

Open Arms provides training and support to all our counsellors, to enable the ongoing delivery of high quality mental health assessment and clinical counselling for Australian veterans and their families. Open Arms provides free and confidential counselling to anyone who has served at least one day in the ADF, and their families.

https://www.openarms.gov.au/