An important part of transitioning into high school for the boys is having contact with older boys who have already experienced many of the things that our Year 7s are likely to experience in the coming years.

Our Buddy Programme is run with Year 7 and Year 11 boys. We choose Year 11 as it allows the boys to have two years at the College together. On Wednesday, we took a period out of the school day in order for the boys to meet their allocated buddy. The boys met, sat down and had a chat and then the older boys assisted the Year 7 boys in writing a letter home to their parents. Hopefully this has arrived!

It was just wonderful to see the boys interact. It is not an easy experience for a Year 7 boy to meet his buddy – it is a little nerve-racking and I would like to pay particular tribute to the Year 11 boys who made the Year 7s feel very welcome and far less anxious. For those of us who observed the boys meet and talk, it was fantastic to hear the boys chatting about similar interests, about Joeys and many other things.

In the coming terms, the boys will get together formally a few times, however, it is often the in-formal meetings which are the most valuable for the boys. I heard a fantastic story from one Year 7 boy who had been invited to lunch leave with his Year 11 buddy. He was telling me how it was strange sitting at a lunch leave with lots of older boys who he didn’t know. I asked him if he enjoyed it and he replied “Yeah! It was awesome!”

I am not sure if the Year 11 boys realise the influence that they have on the younger boys simply in their actions. The Year 7 boys do genuinely look up to the older boys and I have no doubt that in their own time, our Year 7 boys will similarly be great role models for younger boys to come.

Pictured in Photo 1:  Declan Carroll (Balmoral) and Mitch Daly (Mosman)

Pictured in Photo 2:  Nelson Willesee (North Sydney) and Ryan Lyne (Roseville)