Wellesley Public School has implemented a new way to build friendships among some 700 students, with many helping hands – or, rather, thumbs – getting in on the action.
Two new brightly painted “buddy benches” that adorn the school’s playground have a personal touch.
Coloured yellow – promoting the idea that ‘Yellow is Hello’ – the benches aim to facilitate friendships and playmates on the schoolyard by providing an open place for students to gravitate towards if they feel they need a friend, or buddy, to play with.
Spearheaded by the Safe Caring Inclusive School (SCIS) team, the idea for the buddy benches was first discussed last year, with organizers opting to start with the new school year that arrived earlier this month.
Although many schools in the district also have these kind of benches, the committee decided to take an extra step to really personalize the project.
“We talked about making it school-wide: ‘Let’s get everyone to put their thumbprints on it,’ and then everyone belongs and we are all part of it,” said Jen Martin, special education resource teacher and one of the facilitators of the Safe Caring Inclusive School team. “And that was part of being safe, caring, inclusive: making sure everyone was included in it. It wasn’t a teacher initiative put on to students; it was ‘we are all going to be part of it.’”
Martin has been part of the SCIS team for three years now. The group hosts four assemblies throughout the year where they engage students across all grades to participate in various activities that promote a safe and inclusive community at school.
The team selected two benches directly beside the play structure in their yard to transform for the project.
“When we looked at the benches, we already had these two wooden benches right outside of the playground. We thought ‘perfect,’” she said, noting that placement beside the playground allows for great visibility.
Each of the classes were brought over to the yellow-painted benches and asked to place a painted print on. As principal Brian Beney explained, this provided a multitude of benefits for students.
“The fact that every student had a chance to go out there, they now know where it is, they know what it all about and they are a part of it. It’s not this foreign thing out there,” he said. “The school community has really embraced it.”
Although they were unsure if they would have enough room to be totally inclusive, the 734 students prints and close to 65 staff were all able to find their spot on the two benches.
“We celebrated that it is a part of all of us and that we can all use it,” said Martin.
For her, the benches provide an opportunity to help kids find a place to fit in, at a time in life that can be extremely difficult to do so.
“We all have those moments where you feel like you don’t fit in, you don’t belong, or are just having one of those days – it is a spot where you can just maybe meet a new person,” she said. “It is a choice to say, ‘well, maybe I am going to sit and meet someone else and make a new friend.’ Maybe have a new friend, a new experience, and it’s a way of independently giving the kids the choice to seek more. It is giving them a solution on their own.”
She hopes it will also provide an opportunity to facilitate cross-grade friendships. Given that Wellesley is a larger school, the committee looks for ways to provide a connection among the student population from kindergarten to Grade 8.
New to Wellesley PS this year, Beney says it is a great way to deal with the barriers a large school faces.
“Being a large school community with over 700 students, it really helped break down some walls and barriers and realize you know this school is really welcoming. It’s all about caring. It’s all about including others and it’s all about reaching out because we do have a number of new students who come through our doors,” he explained.
“It has been great for this school and we are looking forward to seeing it continue to be used and be an opportunity for students to reach out to others and really build some bridges and establish new friendships.”
