At St Thomas’ we are committed to creating a safe and caring environment for your child. We want to ensure that our students are set up for success and that our school culture is one that is rooted in respect and kindness.

On that note, we are thrilled to let you know that St. Thomas’ will continue to implement the internationally recognised program, Friendology 101 by URSTRONG, with all students from Prep to Year 6. This wellbeing program empowers children with the skills, language, and self-confidence to be better friends and develop healthier friendships. Through a series of 8 sessions, students will learn language to better express their feelings, stand up for themselves, and put out Friendship Fires® (URSTRONG’s term for conflict). A key element of Friendology 101 is teaching students the difference between normal conflict and bullying. We strongly believe this program’s focus on teaching the skills to develop healthy relationships, starting at a young age, is the preventative approach and, ultimately, the solution to the global problem of bullying. Friendology 101 also helps students and teachers establish a common language so that they can co-identify social issues and learn to better communicate solutions. Based on the feedback from other schools who’ve adopted this program, we are certain the Friendology 101 curriculum will positively improve the culture of our school.

As social-emotional wellbeing and character education are already such an integral part of our school’s philosophy, this friendship program aligns perfectly with our values of faith, justice, compassion and learning. Research clearly demonstrates that children who have healthy friendships are involved in more leadership roles, have higher self-esteem, a more positive body image, perform better academically, and make smarter decisions in future relationships.

As the program unfolds, we hope you will keep the conversation going at home. We are excited to watch our students strengthen their social skills by becoming more resilient, empowered, and empathetic friends. For more information about the program, please visit www.urstrong.com. A comprehensive list of topics covered in the program is also attached.

You are invited to take advantage of a FREE Parent Membership to access hundreds of resources – including an 8 session video series. This will allow you to learn the same language & strategies being taught in the classroom through the Friendology 101 curriculum. We hope that, as a URSTRONG Family, you will reinforce the important messages of empowerment, self-compassion, & kindness at home.

As a next step, we would recommend:

• Click here to view an overview of URSTRONG.

• Activate your FREE Parent Membership and explore all the resources available to your family.

• Explore the hundreds of resources available to you!

We believe that empowering our students with these skills will create a culture of kindness at our school and we hope that, together, we can support your children to have healthy, feel-good friendships.