Focus Newsletter

And now a word from 

Mrs Richards...

Making friends and being a good friend is a big learning curve for children (and adults!). Navigating the social aspects of school can come very easily to some children and can be very, very difficult for others.  Children who make (and keep) friendships easily generally share certain characteristics:

  • They are ‘prosocial’ – they are caring, sharing and helpful
  • They have good verbal skills
  • They don’t act impulsively 
  • They are empathetic

Some children learn how to be good friends simply through their social interactions with others.  Other children need to be explicitly taught.  Programs such as Rights, Resilience and Respectful Relations (RRRR) enable, us as a school, to incorporate social skills into our curriculum. Mr Sing works on social skills such as negotiation, co-operation and conflict resolution and classroom teachers spend considerable time working through social issues with individual children and groups as the need arises. 

As parents you can help your child by:

  • Talking to them about what makes a good friend (see the list below) and modelling being a good friend. ( you might even want to come up with your own list as a family).
  • Providing lots of opportunities for them to socialise in a range of different settings.
  • Giving them the opportunity to problem solve themselves when issues arise – providing them with support when necessary but trying to avoid involving yourself in every dispute. 
  • Encouraging them to play with a variety of different people as opposed to limiting themselves to just one or two ‘best’ friends.
  • Building and encouraging resilience.
  • Encouraging kind and empathetic behaviour; the old saying of “If you have nothing nice to say, then don’t say anything at all” still holds true today more than ever.
  • Encouraging them to not use their friendship as a commodity – eg; “If you play with them I won’t be your friend”, “I won’t be your friend if you don’t let me have a go”.

What does a good friend look and feel like?

  • A good friend is someone who you love to spend time with.
  • A good friend cheers you up when you’re feeling sad.
  • A good friend sticks up for you 
  • A good friend makes you laugh.
  • A good friend is someone who is happy to take turns when it comes to deciding what to play in the playground.
  • When you’re with a good friend, you feel happy and comfortable.
  • A good friend doesn’t tease you or make fun of you.
  • A good friend will tell you how they are feeling if they are upset.
  • A good friend doesn’t make you feel sad or embarrassed.
  • A good friend doesn’t lie about things or cheat at games or refuse to take turns.
  • A good friend doesn’t refuse to play with you or refuse to sit with you or talk to you some days at school for no reason.
  • A good friend doesn’t hurt you physically
  • A good friend apologises if they hurt your feelings.