As Peer Support Leaders, we welcome our younger peers into SMC – helping them adjust to college life in a positive light. Our role is to support them as an older brother or sister, strengthening the school community by creating bonds between year levels.
The Year 11 Peer Support leaders have undergone extensive preparation to adapt to the changes of our ‘new normal’. Group One – Hannah Dangatan, Samara Anubhav, Gia Lambert, Abigail Spence, Claudia Mistar, Andrei Mamaradlo and Ethan Rogacion – split their class into six “bubbles” (one Peer Support Leader per bubble) and discussed our feelings towards the positives/negatives of online learning and lockdown during the hardships of the coronavirus. In the following session, 7BRN learned that everyone expresses their emotions in different ways, through the drama activity ‘Emotional Hitchhiker’ that was played within our peer support bubbles.
Adaptions to observe social distancing recommendations through class bubbles felt unusual to the peer support leaders of 7BRN, as we normally do activities with the whole class. However, these changes were necessary to ensure the safety of our school community.
Still, the work of Peer Support Leaders has been gratefully received by their younger students. Leader Samara Anubhav has certainly enjoyed getting back to this important work. “Our Peer Support Class is amazing – building relationships with our school community is important especially during hardships like COVID-19,” she said.
The experience of welcoming our younger peers into SMC is truly heartwarming; with every smile is a brighter school community supported by the Peer Support Leaders.
Well done to Group One Peer Support leaders: Hannah Dangatan, Samara Anubhav, Gia Lambert, Abigail Spence, Claudia Mistar, Andrei Mamaradlo and Ethan Rogacion!
Hannah Dangatan
