Parental deployment to a war zone brings many changes to family life. Changes in family roles and routines unsettle children and interfere with their educational engagement. Defence School Transition Aides (DSTAs) are employed in qualifying Australian schools to assist students from Australian Defence Force (ADF) families to manage transitions associated with a parental deployment to a war zone. Reported here are findings from a study that explored parents’, teachers’ and DSTAs’ perspectives of school-based support designed to assist students to cope with their changed circumstances when a parent is deployed. Results indicate that an appreciation of students’ worries by school personnel eased their distress. DSTAs facilitated processes whereby peers with deployed parents supported each other. Alerting teachers to an intended deployment was also found to be important as it allowed them to be alert to student behaviour changes and prepare ahead for possible student support needs. DSTAs reminded parents through school newsletters to pass on pertinent deployment-related information to the school so that a coordinated school–family approach for supporting students could be enacted. Further research is required to investigate the educational significance of student support offered by culturally aware key adults and student peers during major life transitions.

Students who have parents deployed to a war zone are more vulnerable to an increased level of stress and anxiety, health problems, behavioural disorders and academic under-achievement. Yet, little is known about the processes employed by schools to support these students. This study investigated the deployment support work conducted by Defence School Transition Aides who are employed in some Australian schools to support students from Australian Defence Force families to manage the transitions associated with school mobility and parental absence for service reasons. Fifteen parents, 17 teachers and 15 Defence School Transition Aides were asked, in semi-structured interviews, to describe students’ responses to parental deployment, how their schools supported students and what specific processes were employed by Defence School Transition Aides to assist students’ coping during parental deployment. Findings from qualitative analyses, suggest that Defence School Transition Aides assist school communities to build their schools’ capacity to support students with deployed parents by raising the school communities’ awareness of these students’ specific needs.

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Families of Australian Defence Force (ADF) members also contribute to the defence of our nation. Through maintaining family functioning at home, they enable the ADF member to focus on their operational duties confident that the family members at home are proceeding with day to day lives. Schools play an important role in supporting ADF families by providing the necessary emotional support to enable students to maintain academic engagement and progress. The Defence School Transition Aide (DSTA) program assists school to fulfil this role. Through the provision of proactive and responsive support services for students, teachers and parents and the sharing of a contextual understanding of the ADF lifestyle, Defence School Transition Aides (DSTAs) add to the whole school contribution to supporting the ADF.

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