Peer support is a program designed for Year 11 students to spend some time with Year 8 students within our house. I was fortunate enough to be one of the nine Year 11 students selected to work with Forrest kids each week in Tutor Group for majority of Term 1.

This program required a planning day to discuss and formulate our course of action to provide smooth and fun activities. We decided to split into smaller groups and plan one session per group.

Our group took the focus of Respect and designed activities surrounding this, including a jungle and would you rather. The jungle involved dividing the Year 8s into smaller groups, where they had to work together to get their entire team to the other side of a ‘river’ using a ‘croc repellent ribbon’. They had to ensure they respected each others ideas and boundaries, as there were alternatives to carrying each other. The would you rather was designed to show the Year 8s that although we each will have different opinions, we should still respect and listen to what they believe in.

I learnt a lot about the process to ensure that younger kids are engaged and enjoy the activities we have organised. They have short attention spans and would rather spend most of their time doing. For the jungle game we quickly explained the rules, that I had prewritten to ensure all information was included and clearly explained. We then played the game a couple times, the first to help them understand what the game was by providing our support, then a repeat but faster. We found that they really enjoyed having the opportunity to have to actually think about how to get across, since there are many ways, but all require a little bit of problem solving. We were not providing the answer, so they came up with unique ways to get across, showing that we can respect each others personal boundaries and our ideas, as some may be the solution. Majority already knew the second game so we spent even less time to explain.

Another aspect to ensure the smooth flowing of activities was to make sure that the Year 11s are seen as approachable and fun to be around, not scary big people. I learnt that being gentle, and each week simply saying hi to individuals directly allowed for more of the Year 8s to be comfortable with us by the end. This was amazing to see, as they even started to relax more when participating. I think its important to understand that students of any age will take time to get comfortable around you, but there is so much we can do to help them.

Overall, I deeply enjoyed the Peer Support program. It provided experience surrounding working with younger children and what we can do to ensure that they too make the most out of this time.