As Monday morning came around, a group of Year 12 peer support students sat ready in the library, eagerly waiting to embark on the exciting workshop ahead.
The newly assigned Year 12 peer support leaders for 2019 had the opportunity of experiencing a full day workshop run by the Peace Foundation of New Zealand. This workshop was designed to teach our students the skills needed to problem-solve and collaborate effectively as peer support leaders for the upcoming year.
Throughout the day, our two facilitator – Katherine and Christine, ran exciting activities that tested the students’ abilities to think critically in a situation, and work together to produce the best possible outcome for everyone.
One activity in particular was the scenario game; this managed to provoke some interesting opinions in discussion over the final outcome…The students were put into ‘families’ which consisted of a mum, dad, brother and sister. Our facilitators then gave each family the scenario of an argument occurring between the children where the parents had to step in to make a final decision. For some this proved a struggle, as one student expressed how he found “it really stressful to handle major tasks,” and it’s safe to say a few ‘parents’ were finding it hard to keep their families together!
However, in the end, each family came to an agreement amongst their children, whilst managing to resolve the situation peacefully and successfully. This exercise was an eye opener for many, as the students were challenged on the spot to apply their knowledge and skills to produce an effective outcome where everyone was happy, similar to an environment that they might be working in with a peer support class. One student mentioned how it “widened my knowledge on personality types and ways to overcome problems.”
Overall the workshop proved to be a success and beneficial for our peer support leaders, as it taught them ways to build peaceful relationships within the peer support class environment and in their daily lives. It also upskilled them for developing a basis of leadership and problem-solving skills that will guide them through their journey of being a Year 12 Peer Support leader for 2019.
Francesca Adams
