South Otago High School has a vibrant Peer Support programme which runs annually.
The Peer Support Programme allows students a chance to take on a leadership role within the school.
Year 13 students are strongly encouraged to participate.
All students who attend the training work in groups with 2-3 Year 13 leaders meeting once a week with 10-15 Year 9 students during Term One, to support them as they transition to high school.
For the remainder of the year the Year 9 students are then able to connect and communicate with their leaders as a form of support in their first year of high school. Year 13 students are excellent role models for the junior students and are able to actively promote school values of Respect, Perseverance and Excellence. Students learn not only leadership skills but develop their ability to cooperate/collaborate and build their confidence, planning and organisational skills.
Quotes from Year 13 Students involved in the programme during 2017:
- ‘I enjoyed peer support as it allowed me to get to know the year 9s. I was able to develop my leadership and communication skills. Peer Support defiantly benefits year 9s as it makes them feel welcome to the school and less scared.’
- ‘I enjoyed Peer Support in Term One of Year 13 because it was my way of making the year 9s feel comfortable and this means a lot for me because I myself get very scared when I start something new. A benefit for me was it made me use my leadership skills while organising the year 9s and this was good for me because I am not normally a leader. I think it is valuable for the year 9s because it gives them a jump start and tells them there is nothing to be scared of when starting a new school.’
- ‘I enjoyed being able to lead the year 9's at new activities during peer support. It improved my motivation towards teaching the year 9's getting involved in what we had set them to do, also it improved my leadership skills to help the young children to get involved. I believe it benefits the year 9's that they are able to come up to us and communicate with us if they have any problems or questions. It benefits the year 13's by being able to improve our communication skills.’
‘I found Peer Support an awesome experience, as it was something I had wanted to do since I was year 9 participating in the program. It allowed me to develop new leadership and communication skills when working with the year 9 students.’
‘I enjoyed getting to know the year 9s and making them feel comfortable in a new environment. The benefit that it gave me was gaining experience in a leadership role. I think it is valuable for year 9 and year 13 because it helps them know that they can communicate with the year 13s about things that may be a problem to them when they first start school.’
‘With peer support I found it beneficial as it helped improve leadership roles. It allowed you to interact with people who you usually wouldn’t and gave you a chance to be that senior leader. I enjoyed the activities as they involved everyone and by the end of the term you could see the change within the juniors they weren’t just sitting there awkwardly as they had at the beginning, they were contributing more and were more of a team.’
‘Peer Support is a great leadership opportunity that allows you to improve your leadership, and teamwork skills, and something that helps to give year 9s a support foundation to start off their time at high school.’
‘Peer support allowed me to build relationships with a younger age group who I never would have been involved with otherwise. The experience was enjoyable and beneficial as it improved my leadership and teamwork skills.’