| Reception | Year 5
Last week, some of the children in Year 5 met with the children who are due to start in Reception in September 2019. The children, who will be in Year 6 in the next academic year, will be the Reception children’s buddies at Sherborne House School.
The buddy system has been put into place to enable the Reception children to feel safe and secure when starting school in September. The younger children will have a special buddy in Year 6 as someone to look out for and help them settle into school life.
This also benefits the older children in so many ways as well; moving into Year 6 can also be a daunting prospect but the buddy system reminds the children that they are not alone in feeling nervous or worried, they have someone else to look out for.
Having the responsibility of taking care of someone younger also enables them to become more mature thinkers and doers; channeling their communication skills as well as remembering how to play and have fun with others younger than themselves.
This links into their later life as one day, they may have to make decisions based around people other than themselves; thinking about the needs of others, allowing for differences of opinion and having the maturity to work with other people.
All children in Year 5 – soon to be Year 6 – will have the chance to help out in Early Years over the course of the next academic year. Our children in Pre-Reception welcome the older children to play and read with them on a regular basis helping all children to take responsibility for the younger children in school.
We look forward to sharing more details with you about the Year 6 and Early Years children's partnerships soon.