Y E A R 5
B U D D Y  S C H E M E

IFollowing on from the success of the Buddy system between Year 6 and Kindergarten it was decided that Year 5 and the reception classes would ‘buddy up’ and the extension of the scheme proved a great success.

A weekly meeting between buddies led to some good friendships being formed and the older children had to exercise a number of skills and qualities during these sessions. These included communication skills, pastoral skills, patience and good listening. In post-session discussions Year 5 children expressed surprise at the skills they found they needed in order to operate effectively with their younger buddies and a great deal of satisfaction and sense of achievement was felt by all.

The programme included paired reading sessions, walks in the school grounds, preparing and acting out short plays based on fairy stories and nursery rhymes, indoor and outdoor games and, as a grand culmination of the year’s events, a teddy bears’ picnic.

Here are some reflections by members of Year 5

: “The friendship with my buddy is like a blanket and a pillow (together with each other)”
– Harvey Jones

“I had to come down to their level and concentrate to hear their quiet voices”
– Luke Morgan

“When you meet younger children you have to shrink and go on your knees so that they don’t have to look up to you”
– Lewis Dehaney

“I used obvious words that he’d know and put my volume down. It was a big responsibility taking care of little ones.”
– Go Haga

“We learned about what we were like when we were five years old”
– Daniel Meier

“My friendship has grown rapidly and made my buddy like a brother”
– Pablo Brown Jennett

“It has shown me how to look after my children when I am older”
– Daniel Kerambrum

“It’s so nice to know you’ve made a little kid happy”
– Rita Nzewi

“We were like giants to them”
– Harry Thompson

“At first my buddy was very quiet, then as the weeks passed he became more and more cooperative and confident”
– Tristan Michel

“I found my buddy couldn’t read very well and had to have encouragement with certain sounds”
– Maddie Beadle

“I have enjoyed knowing that my buddy is looking up to me”
– Claudia Drew