Students from St. Mary’s College Ipswich have shown their support of our Defence Forces by presenting a mural dedicated to ADF personnel.

Accompanied by Principal Judith Finan and Defence Transition Mentor Christina Page, the students presented the mural to Air Commodore Ken Robinson who accepted it on behalf of the members of RAAF Base Amberley.

The 46 students that have worked on this mural since 2016 are all from Defence families.

Defence Transition Mentor Christina Page said the mural was originally only for the students to put their feelings on paper about their parents deployment.

“A lot of students were coming to me, explaining that their parents were on deployment and they were missing them,” Ms Page said.

“Some students couldn’t actually Facetime or Skype their parents because of the nature of the deployment.

“Two sisters said their father was on deployment for six months, and they hadn’t seen his face the whole time.”

To finish the mural, students gave up lunch times to complete the mural, using the opportunity to connect with one another.

“It’s a bit of a pastoral activity, students from year seven to year twelve worked together on this mural,” Ms Page said.

Using the theme of what it’s like to be a Defence family and part of the Defence community, the girls suggested the donation.

“It was only this year when we completed it, and most of their parents were back from their deployment, and the girls said to me ‘why don’t we give it to the RAAF base?’”, Ms Page said.

The mural presentation also gave students a chance to view a C-17 Globemaster at No 36 Squadron.

St. Mary’s College’s defence transition mentor program is designed to advocate for and support ADF students. The program assists these students with educational gaps, social and emotional issues and ultimately mentors them during times of mobility and disruption.

If you would like to learn more about the Defence Transition Mentor program offered by the College, phone 3432 5439.