Defence Mentor Support

Defence School Mentor

Hi I'm Yvonne Fletcher

Welcome to Thornton Public School!

I am the Defence School Mentor for Thornton Public School and I am here to support students of Defence families. I work on a part-time basis and am available at school on Fridays. A message left at the school office at other times will be passed on to me.

My email address is: yvonne.fletcher@det.nsw.edu.au

The Defence School Mentor at Thornton Public School:

Provides support to encourage the smooth transition into and out of our school. The aim is to assist children and their parents to quickly become part of our school and the Thornton community.
Monitor new children on the playground and provide them with a ‘buddy' to help them settle in.
Provide a link between family and the right person to give any assistance they may need ie. within the school, DCO, REDLO or other community service contacts.
Organise activities to Welcome and Farewell ADF Families.
Help the school and the local community understand the special needs of ADF parents and their children
Supports children who have parents on deployment, exercise or course.
Organise support programs to assist with ADF children to cope with change.
Organise social events such as morning teas and BBQ lunches for Defence Students to get to know one another.
Help the school commemorate special events such as ANZAC Day and Remembrance Day

Thornton is a great place for young families to live. It is a growing community with new estates being built. Conveniently located near the freeway to Sydney, the New England and Pacific Highways to Brisbane. The local railway station takes us East to Newcastle (30 mins) and on to Sydney, West to Maitland and beyond. We are close to Greenhills Shopping Centre, beaches, vineyards and wineries, farms and country air. There is a selection of pre-schools, high schools, university and TAFE, evening colleges, family day care and playgroups. All kinds of sports and cultural activities that you or your children can be involved in. We are close to Newcastle, the sixth largest city in Australia, with all the services that go with it.

DEFENCE EVENTS

Defence Bowling Afternoon March 24, 2021

Thornton’s Defence School Mentor, Yvonne Fletcher, in association with Veteran Sport Australia and Bowls Australia organised a combined Bowling Afternoon for Defence families from the Maitland and Port Stephens Area. A great afternoon was enjoyed by the children who undertook some of the activities provided by the Rookie Rollers Program ran by Bowls Australia. Even the adults were given some valuable coaching tips on how to bowl. A sausage sizzle was professional cooked the members of Raymond Terrace Bowling Club. Thank you to Raymond Terrace Bowling Club for hosting the event and Rachel Kerrigan from Veteran Sport and Craig Donaldson from Bowls Australia for organising and supporting our Defence Families.

Defence Welcome BBQ

Today we held our Defence Welcome bring a friend BBQ. Over 200 sausages were cooked by Rotary Rutherford Telarah who are great supporters of our school. The event was sponsored by Thornton Coles who supplied the sausages and the bread. All Defence students were able to bring a friend and enjoy a lunch together. Thankyou to Mrs Fletcher our Defence School Mentor for organising another lovely event for our Defence students.

Defence Students Hot Dog Day

Yesterday Mrs Fletcher, our Defence School Mentor, held a Hot Dog Day for our Defence Students. The aim of the event was to bring out Defence Students together in a social, fun atmosphere to met and play. A huge thank you to Jess and Tiff from Muse Restaurant in the Hunter Valley for helping with the preparation the serving of the food and the clean up.