Dear Parents,

Friendships are an important aspect of all of our lives – perhaps even more so for our children as they navigate the often complex years of growing up and discover their place in the world. As our young people grow and develop, so do their friendships. These friendships will have highs and lows and it is important as parents that we provide our children with strategies to navigate their way through these situations.

One of our School Wide Expectations at St Mary’s is ‘Be Respectful’. Being respectful at St Mary’s means that I speak politely, listen to others and take responsibility for my actions. Respect is the glue that holds our friendships together. Treating people with respect and receiving respect form others is important because it helps build feelings of trust, safety and wellbeing.

As parents it is important that we play an active role in supporting our children to develop positive friendships. It is important to have conversations with your child about what makes a good friend and what qualities they should look for in a friend. It is also important that parents lead by example and model how to speak, act and conduct yourself in a positive friendship.

Children will always encounter friendships that can become a little complex or tricky at times. We need to teach them how to handle this effectively and let them know that it is okay to set their own boundaries and enforce these when necessary. Feelings will often be hurt during friendships; however, it is how we deal with these hurt feelings that is most important. When your child experiences hurt feelings, try and use this as a teachable moment.

It is important that our children learn to be friendly – even to those who are unkind or cause conflict. There will always be people who annoy us or speak rudely to us for no reason. If someone is mean or nasty to your child, explain that we don’t always understand why people choose to do that. What we can control is, how we react in these situations. Teaching your child to show grace and act with kindness when faced with these challenges, will support them in dealing with these situations.

The teachers have been focusing on these important ways of behaving in their classroom conversations and when talking with children on the playground. As always, we are here to support you and your child navigate through these often tricky situations.

‘In order to have friends, you must first be one.’

Kind regards,

Joel