Sydney Catholic Schools take wellbeing and connectedness between students very seriously. Mary Immaculate Catholic Primary has taken this to a new level as part of the UR Strong Program.
The focus of the program is wellbeing, health, social skills and happiness. And the key to it all is Fantastic Friday!
Each week students take part in a unique activity like meditation, games, stretching, along with staff check-ins.
Most recently Mary Immaculate was inspired by the classic message in a bottle and rebranded it as Friendship in a Bottle.
Dana Kurford from UR Strong highlighted the importance of programs like this during covid-19.
“Accessibility to our online world is handy right now, however taking some time to slow the pace down for our kids is vital,” Ms Kurford said.
“We can use this time to empower our kids to deeply reflect on what makes a friend precious and then share these reflections with their bestie.”
She said friendships are pivotal to developing social skills and self confidence – Friendship in a Bottle lets students send a special friend a message, some in person, others leaving it for classmates to find when they return to class.
One student convinced Mum and Dad to drop it in their friend’s letter box as a real surprise.
Principal Lisa Wahab has noticed how well her students have responded to the program.“The students have loved this,” Ms Wahab said.
“The activity is designed to help kids keep the lines of communication open in a creative and fun way to foster strong foundations in their friendships.”
Mary Immaculate Catholic Primary Bossley Park website CLICK HERE
- p: +61 2 9604 3877
- f: +61 2 9609 4988
- e: info@mibossleypark.catholic.edu.au
