At St Mary’s, our Peer Support program empowers students to develop essential life skills including mental wellbeing, resilience, assertiveness, decision-making, problem-solving, and leadership.
To foster strong peer relationships across all age groups, we run a vertical Peer Support program each year. This structure brings together students from different year levels, creating a sense of unity and belonging throughout the school.
Students from Years 5 and 6 act as peer leaders to small groups of 8–10 younger students from Kindergarten to Year 4, working together through a series of structured activities. Sessions include topics such as Keeping Friends, which help students explore the concept of friendship, build relationships, and develop skills in empathy and critical thinking. Within their groups, children get to know one another, agree on how they will work together, and interact cooperatively. They reflect on the meaning of friendship, consider the qualities they admire in others, and explore key friendship skills, particularly cooperation and listening.
This program not only strengthens our school community but also helps students grow into confident, compassionate, and responsible individuals.
