Buddies Day
In the last week of every term Highvale Primary School holds Buddies Day. Buddies Day is a long-held tradition at Highvale Primary School and is part of both our Transition and Leadership Programs. As part of the Transition Program, students have the opportunity to build friendships with peers from different year levels and classes across the school. The groups are multi-aged, with senior students supporting younger students as they participate in a range of activities together.
The afternoon consists of four activity rotations, each supported by a different teacher in a different classroom or learning space around the school. This allows students to meet and interact with teachers they may not have worked with before, while also becoming familiar with a variety of learning environments. These experiences help students feel comfortable, confident, and safe throughout all areas of our school. The engaging activities focus on developing a range of skills, including cooperation, SWPBS expectations, and fine motor skills, while maintaining a strong emphasis on fun, participation, and engagement.
As part of the Year Six Leadership Program, Buddies Day is planned and facilitated by our Year Six students. They are responsible for designing, organising and leading an activity that meets the needs of a multi-age group while maintaining a strong focus on fun, participation and engagement. Through this process, students develop their confidence in public speaking, organisation and the preparation of learning experiences. In their role as the ‘teachers’ of their activity, they build valuable leadership skills, including clear communication, problem-solving, providing differentiated support, and using effective non-verbal strategies to engage and guide HPS students.
Below are some students' reflections of their highlights and experiences:
Shanya 5M - I loved helping the preppies and meeting other classes. The Grade 6s created really cool activities and I liked being a leader to help the preppies.
Josh H 6S – I liked being able to create stuff like a teacher and help with students.
Kaylee 2M - I enjoyed meeting new people and making friends.
Jason 5E - I liked drawing an ice-cream using different emotions. The yellow one is curious and the green one is sleepy.
Leo 2M – I liked that we got to rotate around the classes and do different activities.
Oneli 5M- It's fun for many people because they have chances to interact with other people and make new friends. The Grade 5s even get to pair up with preps which is cool.
Andrew 3L – In the Art Hub activity, the drawing was really fun and calming. I liked drawing faces.
Sidarrth 5M - My buddy was really nice, and it was fun to build our teamwork skills in the activities the Grade 6s organised. I really liked making the flags and I made Saudi Arabia because Ronaldo used to play in the league there, even though he plays for Portugal in the World Cup.
