SCAS News

How are Years 3 and 4 learning to be better friends?

It’s well known that children can experience friendship difficulties as they navigate their way through growing up. Many children experience ups and downs and develop strategies for coping with challenges. Some students are better able to communicate their feelings and have the confidence to stop unwanted and negative behaviours. Others find themselves coping by creating inclusive and exclusive groups that can change daily through power dynamics. Recent research has uncovered that hormones play a part in children’s emotional behaviour well before any physical signs of growth and development emerge. This can impact children’s ability to cope appropriately with friendship issues.

At SCAS we recognise the importance of helping students know and understand their feelings and provide strategies they can apply to situations if they arise. We’re being proactive in our approach to developing positive friendships in Years 3 and 4 by providing opportunities, programs and learning experiences for students such as:

• Co-curricular clubs and sports that offer the opportunity to build new skills with a variety of peers in structured environments.
• Lunch time structured play areas that offer a variety of passive play ideas for focused and imaginative play.
• Rock and Water lessons and activities to develop student’s social skills, confidence, self-reflection and resilience.
• Daily in class Ground Centre Focus sessions to help students calm themselves, focus their thinking and concentrate on effective breathing.
• Personal Development lessons in Friendly Schools social and emotional wellbeing and anti-bullying program, and Character First program that delivers a study into effective character traits for students.
• Brainstorm Productions, which is an award winning in-school theatre production, addressing bullying, cyber safety and resilience. Brainstorm Productions aim to reduce the incidence of bullying in schools and improve student behaviour and wellbeing.

As an additional instalment, girls in Years 3 and 4 spent some time discussing friendships with Mr Hilberts and their teachers.

There are things you can do to help your children develop healthy friendships:

• Talk about friendships with your child and help them to recognise the positive qualities in themselves and their friends.
• Talk about kindness, compassion and empathy.
• Talk to your child about being one that stands up for victims of unkind behaviour.
• Carefully manage online activity.
• Create opportunities for children to meet lots of new people outside of school.

https://www.smh.com.au/national/researchers-find-early-signs-of-puberty-common-from-age-seven-20150122-12vxgt.html

https://smceducationblog.tumblr.com/post/150629869120/girls-and-their-frenemies