In their time at primary school most children will need help with making and keeping friends at some point.

This year we implemented the Resilience Project which focuses on Gratitude, Empathy and Mindfulness as core principles to help people develop resilience. Every student has been involved in lessons based around these principles as they are integral to help them become good humans who have the strategies to cope when things don't always go their way.

Social skills are practised in students' everyday classroom and playground interactions however from time to time groups of students needs a bit of extra help with this - it may be they need an adult to meet with them and talk through any issues and get help with strategies to manage disagreements. We work with students to:

- develop skills for making and keeping friends

- develop skills for getting along with others

- develop skills for managing disagreements

- self-reflect about their own current level of skills in these areas

This is work that as teachers we do all the time. We manage this with sensitivity and manaakitanga. If your child comes home and says that a teacher or someone from the leadership team worked with them or met with them today and talked about friendships - this is a good thing - not anything to be concerned about. 

If there was anything to be concerned about we would ring you and talk to you about it.

If you think your child would benefit from getting some help with friendships - let your child's teacher know.