Buddy partnerships allow children to experience a connection with other children from different year levels. Buddy partnerships support students in experiencing a welcome from the very beginning, particularly during times of transition.
The benefits of a Buddy program are twofold; the older children learn to take on responsibility, while the younger children know that they have a fellow student they can confidently turn to for support.
The Buddy program helps to promote relationships and support between older and younger students through regular collaboration between their classes. This fosters a sense of whole-school community and creates friendships that enable both older and younger ‘Buddy’ to bond more closely with their school. This increases the likelihood of more positive school behaviour for all students.
Each year, our new Prep children are buddied with a child in Year 5. This allows the buddies to develop their relationship over a two year period as Year 1 & Year 6 students.
All new students to the school in Years 1-6 will be buddied with a classmate by the class teacher to support their transition.