06 March 2013
On Monday 4 March children from Kindergarten met Buddy Bear for the first time this year and other Junior School children also joined in the excitement. Year 12 Junior School Chair, Anna Hopkins organised the get together, with help from Abbey Studley, Helen Browne, Sigrid Macleod, Tash Keep and Mr Barrett.
Fahan School is a Better Buddies School, working towards creating a caring, bully-free environment for children of all ages. Buddy Bear is the official mascot for all of Fahan School Big Sister, Little Sister events throughout the year and stands as a symbol of friendship and care.
All of the Early Learning Centre children were delighted to see and cuddle Buddy Bear as she played and danced with them in the playground. They were also given Buddy Bear stickers, designed by Mikayla Johnson in Year 10, and an orange or purple balloon to take home at the end of the day with information on the Better Buddies Program.
The Better Buddies Framework is used to support and enhance Fahan School’s existing Peer Support Program, Big Sister, Little Sister. This involves older students participating in positive, supportive, structured and facilitated one-on-one relationships with younger students to enable them to feel safe and cared for, while older students feel valued and respected. This program has been in place for some years now.
Every year there are a number of Big Sister, Little Sister events held including picnic lunches, BBQs, treasure hunts and sporting get-togethers. All Fahan students come together in their Big Sister, Little Sister families to participate and promote caring friendships between the younger and older girls.
The Year 12 girls take their role in continuing this tradition of supporting each other seriously and they hope that the students look forward to their time with their older and younger ‘sisters’.
Our next Big Sister, Little Sister event is on Monday 25 March. The event will be Easter themed with the big sisters helping their younger sisters construct an Easter basket to take on an Easter egg hunt together.
