STUDENTS at Girton Grammar\u2019s junior school are honing their leadership skills in a new peer mediation program.<\/p>\n
Twenty-four students will now be able to support their peers in the role of restorative peer mediator, a responsibility that involves supporting teaching staff to manage playground problems.<\/p>\n
Deputy head of the junior school Viv Bath said the program is being trialled to empower students to solve problems and develop social and leadership skills.<\/p>\n
The students were trained by Kristy Elliot from Restorative Pathways, a Melbourne based agency offering training programs in areas like relationship management and social and emotional learning.<\/p>\n
During their training students learned new skills including empathetic listening, how to ask problem solving questions, and how to consider the perspectives of others.<\/p>\n
Ms Elliot said it was important for students to learn and apply emotional intelligence in a range of contexts and this program provided a new opportunity to apply these skills.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Girton students were an impressive group of children who demonstrated great insight and emotional intelligence throughout the training,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The new RPM\u2019s, who are all year 5 students, will assist their younger peers to find their own solutions to problems.<\/p>\n
This initiative is linked to Girton Grammar School\u2019s adaptation of the RULER approach which was developed at Yale University and teaches students to become more empathetic.<\/p>\n
Three teachers from Girton will visit Yale at the end of this year to learn about new developments in the RULER program.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
STUDENTS at Girton Grammar\u2019s junior school are honing their leadership skills in a new peer mediation program. Twenty-four students will now be able to support their peers in the role of restorative peer mediator, a responsibility that involves supporting teaching staff to manage playground problems. Deputy head of the junior school Viv Bath said the […]<\/p>\n