Belvedere School launched its Buddy Programme, in association with the Benoni Lions Club, on March 11, an ongoing project aimed at fostering a spirit of friendship, support and togetherness.
“We believe by establishing a buddy culture, a culture of kindness, we will also be able to address the problem of bullying,” said school social worker Corné Badenhorst.
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The Buddy Programme consists of three components:
The Buddy Garden: The Buddy Garden and Circle of Friends is situated on the playground and made up of 10 friendship circles (concrete benches placed in circles) where learners can sit during break. Hidden in the friendship circle is a circle of benches known as the Buddy Circle. Whenever a learner has been bullied or feels lonely they can sit in the Buddy Circle where a Best Buddy will intervene immediately. The Buddy Garden and benches were sponsored by the Benoni Lions Club.
The Best Buddies: Teachers have identified 23 learners who have the necessary empathy and leadership skills to intervene when they see a learner is being bullied. Best Buddies receive special training to identify troubled learners, assess a situation, listen to the learner and intervene by taking the learner to a circle of friends or report to the teacher on duty. Best Buddies wear a Best Buddy badge and are on duty in the Buddy Garden and on the playground.
The Buddy Programme: The Belvedere Buddy Book consists of six lessons. Learners register a profile before they are allowed to continue with the programme. During registration, they also sign terms and conditions, where they agree not to bully or take part in bullying.
The lessons of the Buddy Programme focus on social skills, with the following topics:
• Kindness is the new cool.
• Bucket-filler friends (kindness).
• Walking in my shoes (empathy).
• There is a bug in my friendship (relationship skills).
• Gossip and glitter (the damages caused by gossiping and cyberbullying).
• Bullies (practical ways to deal with bullies).
The group of Best Buddies was announced at the launch assembly last week, where they also received their Best Buddy badges.
Belvedere extended special thanks to the Benoni Lions Club for being part of the initiative and sponsoring the Belvedere Buddy Garden.
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