Head of Primary P-4

Educators and parents today have become more aware of how important it is to teach children friendship skills. This is especially important after the pandemic and with the prevalence of social media and technology. Friendships have considerably evolved; but in other ways, they remain the same in that we all want to get along and belong.

The founder of the Friendology curriculum Dana Kerford speaks on The School of Wellbeing podcast. In this podcast Dana speaks about the Friendology program and its key tenets. The discussion focuses on the importance of friendship skills and why friendship and relationship skills are essential to be explicitly taught at an early age. Children need explicit instruction, followed by role play and practice.  

This podcast explores well the terminology used in the program so that parents can use these key terms at home in partnership. Explicitly teaching children how to develop healthy friendships and manage conflict in a positive way is at the heart of helping students flourish. This podcast explores many of these concepts including:

  • Friendship fires
  • Friend-O-Meter
  • Quick comebacks (preloaded statement)
  • Mean on purpose behaviour 
  • Mean by accident 
  • Friend-o-cycle
  • The four friendship facts: 
  • No friendship is perfect
  • Every friendship is different
  • Trust and Respect are the two most important qualities of a friendship
  • Friendships change, and that’s okay.
A great holiday podcast

I strongly encourage you to take the time to hear all about Friendology!

In our Friendology program, the theme of June is TRUST. Throughout June we have been unpacking what trust looks like in friendships. Trust is earned in tiny moments and is a must in ‘Green-Zone’ friendships (friendships that are trusted and make us feel that we belong). Based on the research of Brene Brown the seven elements of trust are:

  • Boundaries
  • Reliability
  • Accountability
  • Vault
  • Integrity
  • Non-judgement
  • Generosity

If you would like to read more about Bene Browne’s 7 elements of trust click HERE for an explanation of each of the seven elements.

Just a reminder to please visit the grade pages to see what your child/ren has been learning about in Friendology. These is updated fortnightly.

Wishing you a restful break with family and friends and looking forward to a fabulous Term 3.

Joanne Gianinni
Head of Primary P-4