Her mother, Rima, is in the freshly repainted kitchen, making short blacks on a coffee machine. She stirs in a spoon of sugar so tall it surely doubles the coffee's volume.

In the lounge room, Theresia, 14, is flicking absently through daytime TV, killing the last few hours before summer finishes and school starts for the year. She's a bit nervous, actually – she's heard year 9 is a hard year.

Like most 14-year-olds, she puts on a sour face when she thinks about tomorrow. But for Rima and Theresia, school represents an important constant in a life of uncertainty. Liam Mannix

"We have moved more than 10 times, so it's been really hard," Theresia says, her eyes still focused on the TV. E! Weekly is on.

Theresia is one of 146 school children currently being supported by community housing agency Hanover. These children face lives of uncertainty and movement and growing up before they should.

Study after study shows changing schools once – let alone repeatedly – wreaks havoc on a child's ability to learn. Hanover works hard to keep kids in the same school, even as they move home, and Rima now drives her child a long distance.

"I think Cheltenham's my favourite area," she says.

"It's got to do with rent and money and stuff, and that's just really hard as well – finding a good house with affordable rent."

Rima, a Lebanese migrant, lost her job in a local supermarket about five years ago. Unable to get a new one because of illness, she felt her world darken and grow tighter.

"I needed to pay the rent, I needed to pay Theresia's school. Food, bills, it's not enough."

For a child, circumstances like these are felt through a sense of difference.

"Everyone has their own house, everyone's bought a house, and I just did not want to feel like an outsider, you know what I mean?" Theresia says.

"It was very hard. I wanted to help but I did not know how to."

On the day before school, Theresia gets a new school dress. She's delighted.

"Some of the [clothes], they did not really fit me. It's got to do with fitting in as well – everyone's got the same dress, and I had the older version."

Rima, meanwhile, is proud of herself.

"It's a nice feeling to know that Theresia is going to be something one day – to go to uni, and to work hard for her to pay [for] what she needs, not to use anyone or not to miss something. It's a nice feeling to see Theresia growing, and to be proud of myself for what I've done and to be proud of what she's become."

When Hanover found them a place, mother and daughter painted the walls – Rima can't understand how the last tenants could live in such squalor – and hung colourful paintings of elephants. They ripped weeds out of the garden and planted sunflowers.

When they are at school drop-off and Rima leans over to kiss her goodbye, Theresia usually squeals with embarrassment. What if her friends see? She flees the car, into a world of schoolwork and packed lunches and normalcy.

Today though, Rima helps lift the filled school bag onto her daughter's shoulders.

"Can I walk next to you?" she asks her child with a wry grin.

"Yeah mum," whispers Theresia, trying to hide her own smile.

*Names changed