St Joseph’s Cobram Prep students are set to have a big year of learning and personal development in 2023.
The Catholic primary school has 50 Prep students broken into three classes.
St Joseph’s deputy principal Stephanie Arundel said that among the many new experiences the students would enjoy, the school’s buddy program and Little Learners Love Literacy program were possibly the biggest highlights.
The buddy program sees each Prep student partnered with a Year 6 student at the beginning of the year. The Year 6 buddy supports their Prep buddy’s transition into school life.
“That includes helping at lunch, helping them do their daily jobs, accompanying them to school Mass,” Mrs Arundel said.
“It’s a friendship allowing Foundation students to connect with their buddy when they feel worried or unsure. It gives them an extra person to rely on at school.”
The buddy program starts the year prior to the Prep students starting school and involves the students being introduced and spending time with each other throughout the transition program.
“Each Foundation student is also given a photo of their Year 6 buddy for them to remember them by,” Mrs Arundel said.
The St Joseph’s buddy program works with the aim of supporting the Prep students as they grow in independence.
According to Mrs Arundel, at the start of the school year the buddies spend time at every recess and lunch together, but as the Prep students become more confident the time spent with their buddies during break reduces.
Along with confidence, the buddy program also assists in building bridges and strengthens school cohesion and spirit.
Mrs Arundel said responses from parents had been great.
“Overwhelmingly positive,” she said.
“We’ve been doing it for many years now and the Year 6 students see being a buddy as a rite of passage as they move into the senior year of their primary school life.”
Along with the buddy program, the Prep students take part in the Little Learners Love Literacy program, which according to Foundation Learning Leader Kristy Hitchcock helps build the groundwork for the student’s future literacy learning.
“The program is a phonics-based approach to teaching literacy skills that was introduced in 2022,” she said.
To assist them, the Prep students make use of the school’s digital technology.
“We place a large emphasis on the use of technology to support student learning,” Mrs Hitchcock said.
Mrs Arundel said the program created strong literacy skills and helped Prep students to read, write and spell with confidence through a sequence of explicitly taught lessons. Little Learners Love Literacy also focuses on handwriting, reading fluency, comprehension and building a wide vocabulary.
The deputy principal pointed out that the buddy program and the Little Learners Love Literacy program formed part of the school’s quest to form well-rounded students.
“Both programs allow them to reach their full potential and most of all enjoy coming and being part of the school life at St Joseph’s,” she said.