For well over 20 years, Joeys has run a buddy program with Year 7 and Year 11 boys. This is one of the senior boys’ first opportunities to show some genuine leadership and despite being given the opportunity to not participate, it was fantastic to see each of the boys enthusiastic about taking part in this program.
Today was the boys’ first opportunity to meet their buddy and this was done in the Resources Centre. With 206 Year 11 boys and 161 Year 7 boys I don’t know if the library staff knew what hit them! Having said that, once we had introduced each of the boys to their buddy things were amazingly settled as the boys sat with each other and had a chat about how things were going early in the year.
The main task today was for the Year 11 boys to help their buddy write a letter home to their parents. This is a great way for the boys to get to know each other as the Year 7 boys wrote about themselves and their buddy. Of course for them to do this, they had to chat about each other’s interests and commitments at Joeys. It was wonderful watching boys, with up to five years difference in age, having a casual chat with each other. Sitting back and observing them, it was great to see both the young boys and the older ones laughing with each other as they wrote the letter. Different pairs of buddies interacted with each other and there is no doubt that this was a very positive experience for all the boys involved.
Due to so many boys in Year 11 being keen to take part, we obviously had plenty of buddies and this allowed over 40 Year 7 boys to have two buddies rather than just one.
Throughout the year we will be organising some more opportunities for the boys to catch up with their buddy. The next being the Head of River where the Year 11 boys will travel to Penrith with their buddy. This will be another opportunity for the boys to get to know their buddy a little better as well as help them during their initial stages of their first whole school trip out to Penrith. Even though it seems like something simple, travelling this distance as a Year 7 boy and not really knowing where to go or what to do when you get there can be a bit daunting. Having their Year 11 buddy with them to help out will assist greatly in the boys feeling more relaxed.
With all that is organised though, it is the off-the-cuff meetings of the boys with their buddies that will prove the best experiences for both the Year 7 boys as well as the Year 11 boys. It will be catching up one afternoon, dropping by their sport one Saturday or even taking the opportunity to invite their buddy to lunch leave once or twice throughout the year that will be most memorable for all boys and we certainly encourage all boys to make the most of this important leadership and personal growth opportunity.
Photo 1: Rowan Farrell (Cabarita) with his buddy Aaron Han (Eastwood).
Photo 2: Matt Scolari (Dubbo) with his buddy Angus Carrigan (Gurley).
Photo 3: Callum Kilgariff (Narrabundah) and Sebastian Klarica (North Batemans Bay) with their buddies Antonio De Beradino (East Ryde) and Hugo Kovacs (West Pymble).