On the 30th of January the Year 11 Peer Support Leaders welcomed the Year 7 students to Edmund Rice College for their orientation day. Throughout the day the Year 7 students took part in fun activities to learn more about each other and the school. This began with a fact finding bingo where students had to find out information about each other to fill out their bingo card and win a prize. The Peer Support Leaders then took Year 7 on a tour of the school and every class, playground and department the school has to offer. Year 7 were then ‘quizzed on’ the different landmarks around the school, with the student who got the most points receiving a prize. Year 7 then spent their recess and lunch time interacting with other students and the Year 11 Peer Support Team, continuing their process of making new friends and adjusting to the new setting. Year 7 were given their school diaries and ran through how homework, class tasks and assessments are handed out and assessed. Also how to balance this workload with the least amount of stress possible, constantly reminded by both the teachers and Peer Support team to take the time to enjoy high school.

Following a fun first day for all, the Peer Support Leaders met with Year 7 during lunch time the following day to check up on progress and field any questions. Later that week on Thursday Year 7 and Peer Support Leaders played some fun games with Year 7 while checking up on their experiences so far at school. Overall the Peer Support team thoroughly enjoyed guiding Year 7 into high school, reminding them that we are always available if they need any help.

Zane Al-Salih and Marcus Hendriques-Thakur