ABSTRACT
As schools are increasingly concerned about the emotional and social wellbeing of the children in their care, there is a growing responsibility to ensure that children are given the skills needed to mature into thoughtful, responsible and caring adults. Peer mentoring and peer mediation have been the successful mainstays in schools for some time but frequently schools are finding access to training for their peer supporters difficult, time consuming and often expensive. Many children struggle with friendship issues. Some lack understanding of the needs of others and have difficulty acquiring and maintaining friendships. Some children experience continual negative experiences in the playground which can erode a person’s self-esteem. It is important for all children to have a sense of wellbeing. By helping children to acquire the skills to solve their own problems the number of incidents reported to staff will automatically reduce, enabling staff to dedicate more time and patience to deal with more serious incidents quickly, efficiently and sensitively.
