Year 5 students at Grouville School have trained to be Peer Mediators so that they can help other children to resolve minor issues and conflicts.
The Peer Mediation programme was introduced by Grouville School as part of their Rights Respecting ethos, and to help students develop life-long learning skills.
As part of the process, two peer mediators sit with a student in a quiet space and try to find a resolution to their issue. If the mediators feel that they are not equipped to mediate the conflict, they refer it to a member of staff. More serious issues will always be dealt with by a member of staff.
The training – which was delivered at the end of the school term – was led by the Resolution Centre, a local company specialising in mediation, and Year 6 Peer Mediators who have already completed their training.
During the training, students learned how to take responsibility for their own behaviour, how to listen effectively, how to improve their own and others’ communication skills, and how to understand conflict and its impact.
Headteacher of Grouville School, Nicola Turner, said: “The Peer Mediation programme is well-established at Grouville: it has built on our school behaviour policy and decider skills, and enables students to resolve minor problems and conflict for themselves. These are vital life-long skills that they can take with them into the future.
“Peer Mediators help children find appropriate ways to respond to problems with others, rather than telling them what to do. Peer mediators do not ‘make decisions’ but rather work towards a win-win resolution for both sides to avoid further conflict.”
“This is a very special responsibility for our children, and we plan to train all Year 5 students to become Peer Mediators and support their peers and younger children in their final year at Grouville.“
Year 5 student, Harry, said: “I like the training – it is exciting and I am learning new skills. It will help us because it means you don’t have to go to the teacher to solve every problem.”
Charlotte (Year 5), who took part in the training, said: “I want to be a Peer Mediator because I want to help people. When I have been doing the activities in the training, I have realised that’s it’s an important job and I would feel really helpful if I was a real Peer Mediator.”
Enzo C (Year 6) who is a trained Peer Mediator, said: “It has helped the school become calmer because before there could be arguments in the playground but since we have had peer mediators outside, it’s helped everyone to be calmer. I use my peer mediation skills to solve problems with my own friends.”
