Every mum knows the first-day jitters when their little one goes to school.
Most children are scared of not fitting in, of not making friends. It can be especially hard if you have a shy child.
One school in Australia has created a brilliant way for kids to feel welcome and foster friendships.
St Thomas Primary School in Sydney's north shore have created the Friendship Tree. The idea is that if a schoolchild feels sad or lonely, they sit under the tree as a sign that they're feeling down or want some company.
The towering Morteon Bay Fig in the school's play yard is a beacon for friendship. Principal Jennifer McKeown said the tree 'combats loneliness' and is a big help for junior Kindergarten students who are easily overwhelmed when they first walk through the doors of St Thomas.
“It is mostly used by Kindergarten children where the teachers work with the children in class to remind them about it and its use," she told Kidspot.
“After every break early in Kindergarten, the teacher generates talk to find out what problems children may have had and helps them to problem solve them as a group.”
The Friendship Tree is very similar to the Buddy Bench. The Buddy Bench is a pretty well known concept and has been adopted by schools in the UK, Ireland, Australia and the US.
The benches give children a safe, nonjudgmental place to retreat. Once a child is asked off the bench to come play, the hope is that they’ll have the confidence to go play with their new friends again the next day.
The idea became widespread in the US thanks to 10-year-old Christian Bucks, who had read about a Buddy Bench in Germany. He brought the idea to his principal, Matthew Miller, and the two immediately set out to install a buddy bench at Roundtown Elementary in Pennsylvania. Their project was covered by the local newspaper and went viral. Since then, the two have been featured in national news and gave a joint TedTalk in February 2014.
Since then, it has spread to numerous schools. Judith Ashton and Sam Synott founded the programme in Ireland. Synott says, "I discovered the full extent and impact of the issues children face when I became a parent. Together, we were convinced that if children were taught how to talk about their emotions at a very young age, the mental health of Ireland’s population could be vastly improved.
"Having observed similar international models, we founded Buddy Bench Ireland. The organisation has devised programmes for schools which promote emotional resilience and introduces children and young people to a shared vocabulary for expressing emotions, through visual tools, learning and role play."
The Andy Morgan Foundation is a suicide-preventive charity that has also introduced the Buddy Bench to Irish schools. Founder Joanne Featherstone said: “Through positive reinforcement like today this programme can really work. My ideal is for this Buddy Bench system to give children a chance to show compassion to each other."
