Peer Support

Peer Support Training

Before we started peer support, we came into school during the beginning of the summer holidays to learn a bit about what being a peer support leader is about. During this day we were taught how to run the classes.

A big part of the day was brainstorming a list of values to cover in each peer support session; these values provide a main topic to guide each lesson; they are used to help decide what sort of games and activities to run in the session.

After we planned some lessons, we presented them to another peer support group. This was a great opportunity to stand up in front of a group of people and practice explaining instructions and the topic.

Overall, coming into school during the holidays was definitely worth it. It was a fun day, and it helped us to get an understanding of how to be a good peer support leader.

Mentoring Sessions

For each lesson that we planned for our class, we decided to implement certain themes into our lessons. For instance, we did a lesson on teamwork. For this, the class completed a shared mind map on what teamwork meant to us, and then further progressed with a game that demonstrated how we can use teamwork to overcome obstacles and challenges to reach a certain goal.

Including these themes into our lessons, combined with an activity, helped the students to have fun while also learning something more significant in the long run.

Creating and conducting these lessons has not only been fun for the students in our class, but also mainly for us. We enjoy seeing the Year 7s engaging in the activities and giving everything a shot even if they are a bit unsure. The whole environment is extremely optimistic and most importantly, everyone is encouraging each other to give it their best go.

We love being around them and making their mentoring class as enjoyable as it is for us!

Year 7 Camp

Earlier this term, the Year 7 students attended their first high school camp at Camp Adanac. As part of the Peer Support team, we got the opportunity to visit them for a day and be a part of their experience.

The day was filled with fun activities, delicious food and plenty of laughter. We joined in on a range of exciting activities, including the water tower, flying fox and archery, giving us a chance to connect with them as they tried new things.

A highlight of the day was lunch time when we were treated to a meal of homemade meatball subs, along with a series of highly entertaining lip-sync battles performed by both students and teachers. The performances were creative, energetic and had everyone laughing, especially Mr Given’s rendition of Call Me Maybe.

Visiting this camp brought back many great memories from our time spent at Adanac in Year 7. Seeing new friendships forming and witnessing the Year 7 students create their own memorable moments was very rewarding for us Peer Support leaders, as we can reflect on our own memories of Year 7 camp.

We were so grateful to be a part of such a milestone in their first year of high school, and hope they enjoyed it as much as we did!