It's Buddy Time!

Our wonderful Year 6 children have been eagerly awaiting the day they would get to 'buddy up' with our new EYFS children. 

At East Farleigh Primary School we feel our youngest learners settle in so much quicker when they have a Year 6 buddy to look out for them. The role of a buddy is to offer support to the children in the EYFS throughout their Reception year, especially when out on the playground. The playground can be very daunting when you are only 4 years old so our wonderful Year 6 children are there to comfort them, include them in play, support them in mediating with peers, teach them how to use the playground equipment and more!

Every year our new Year 6 children look forward to getting to know the EYFS cohort and learning who their buddy will be. We think it's important to let the pairings happen naturally so, as well as seeing each other on the playground at lunchtimes, we invite our Year 6 children to spend some time in the EYFS environment in a relaxed, play-based setting. We then observe the bonds that are forming between the children and pair them up accordingly. 

Below are some photos from our first session together, you can see the buddy pairs in action when we walk down to the church together at the end of term!