“Extra, extra, read all about it: Cook is gonna win and there’s no doubt about it!”. Most of us have those House chants imprinted in our memories from our time at school. Sports Carnivals were the one time that House loyalty suddenly became important, and a renewed sense of rivalry pitted students against one another for those two or three days of the year.
The House system at St. Peter’s extends far further than a few sporting carnivals. From a student’s first day at St. Peter’s, they are split into one of six different Houses: Argyle, Bligh, Cook, Cumberland, Durham and Roxburgh. The Houses affect the colour of their sports shirt and their grouping at carnivals, but are also used as a basis for our Pastoral Care System.
Students within each House form smaller Buddy Groups. These are led by the Year 6 students in their group, and contain students from each grade. Every year these groups stay close to the same, so that each group of students develop relationships and seek each other out for support as needed. The Year 6 students are assigned specific Kindergarten children to look after as their special Buddy. Year 6 and Kindergarten have recess together each Friday and share a special bond throughout the year.
Each Buddy Group meets fortnightly, where the Year 6 students run a session with a specific focus on topics ranging from making friends, saying sorry, and having resilience. The Year 6 Leaders are given material beforehand to prepare for their group, and make decisions about how they want to run the session. This year we have seen our Leaders take initiative and grow in confidence like never before. Some students reflected on what it is like to finally be a Leader of their group, upon reaching Year 6:
Lela- You feel like you can make a difference, and it is fun to be like the teacher. You get more responsible as you keep on going throughout Buddy Groups.
Lucy- I like how it is up to you how you lead your Buddy Group. You can change the tasks to suit how your Buddy Group works, and design what you think works for them.
Jensen- It is fun to do activities with the groups and look after the little kids. My Kinder buddy is getting better at listening.
Tehya- It is fun to help children and help other people your age from your school. I like being the leader because you get to change things and make sure everyone has fun, and you can make things easier for them to learn.
Nishith- It is better leading the group now, because I can tell them what to do. I like having the Kindergarten buddies because they are different from our Year 6 friends, and they have very different interests to us.
Buddy Group leading is an excellent opportunity for every one of our Year 6 students to develop their confidence. They also improvise different methods of communication and grow in their organisational skills. After each session the Year 6 students debrief and discuss what worked and what didn’t, and reflect on what they could do differently next time. However, Buddy Groups sessions are not just of benefit to the older students. Consider what some of the younger members think about their groups:
Aara (Kindergarten) - I like it when my buddy takes me to Buddy Groups because I like playing games. I like getting to know some of the big kids like Alyssa. My buddy does a good job of leading and I have so much fun.
Sophie (Year 4) - I like that sometimes we get to work in groups and do fun things, like playing games. I am looking forward to leading one when I am in Year 6 because I like teaching kids and helping them with things.
Sophia (Year 2) - We get to learn lots of things with other people. Teachers always teach us but other kids can help us too, so I like having the big kids lead us.
Jack (Year 3) - In Buddy Groups I like how we talk a lot about stuff together. We talk about celebrations and the people in my group are nice. I like it when we do drawing activities.
Ava (Year 1) - I like that we get to see each other at Buddy groups. I get to see my friends in the different grades.
Tarys (Year 2) - I like to go with my friends to Buddy groups and do activities. Some of the friends are big kids and some are small kids, because I am in Year 2 and they are in Kindergarten.
Tanisha (Year 5) - I like that we do something new every week in Buddy Groups. I am really looking forward to leading next year because then I can run the activities, and I find the Kindy kids really cute so I will be great at looking after them.
Beyond our smaller groups, students are encouraged to develop a sense of pride for their House as they collectively work together to try and win the Annual House Cup. They can earn House Points when spotted doing the right thing in classrooms and the playground. Each week our Year 6 House Captains tally up the points in the school to determine the winning House for the week, which then has the privilege of flying their flag in the playground. Recently, we introduced House Point Boxes for out in the playground. Now students can be given ping-pong balls to put in their box as a visual representation of their House Points.
So far this year it remains a close race to the Cup!
