At Holy Spirit, Pastoral Care is not just about teachers caring for students – it is also about students caring for each other. With this in mind, Holy Spirit’s Buddy Program is a much-loved part of our school life.

Students from Year 2 to 6 are paired with younger children from Kindy to Year 1 to offer them support, friendship and guidance as they start school and throughout the school year.

The aim of the Holy Spirit Buddy Program is to create a friendly and caring primary school community where strong cross-aged peer relationships are built and maintained.

On a regular basis, buddies meet for positive, supportive, structured one-on-one activities that focus on oral language and include reading, computers and technology, literacy and numeracy puzzles and games and sport. The camaraderie transfers to the whole school playground, where older buddies become a ‘go to’ person in times of need.

Benefits of our Buddy program include:
• eases the transition of our younger students into school
• helps develop more confident and positive social skills
• focus on core values of friendliness, care, being inclusive and supporting diversity
• gives younger students another positive role model within the school
• encourages leadership, responsibility and respect in older students,
• fosters a sense of whole school community
• enables younger children to feel safe and cared for while older children feel valued and respected