Boost-a-Buddy

Boost-a-Buddy is a community engagement initiative at St Stithians to connect private school students with those from a less privileged school and, together, build a greater appreciation for the diversity that exists within our society.

In the aftermath of COVID, the community engagement team at St Stithians Girls’ College wanted to rekindle face-to-face interactions that had been lacking during the pandemic. On the lookout for new opportunities, the Director of Character Education, Peta Hanly, read about the Iphutheng Adult Mentorship Programme and wondered if it would be possible to develop a student mentorship/ friendship programme along similar lines.

She contacted the organisers and, together, they formulated a programme which launched in 2022. Over the course of the following two years, the programme was developed and refined to the point where they now feel that it is ready to share with other schools.

What is Boost-A-Buddy?

Boost-a-Buddy is a year-long nation-building community engagement opportunity designed for Grade 8 and 9 students at St Stithians with the aim of connecting them with Grade 7s from a less privileged primary school. The intended aims and benefits for the younger students are multiple:

  • To prepare the Grade 7s for the transition to senior school by partnering them with a high school buddy who can offer them advice and guidance about what to expect;
  • To create positive, motivational experiences for learners to imagine the possibilities for their future lives;
  • To achieve relationship-building across cultures and socio-economic levels.

The programme is reciprocal in nature, providing an opportunity for the older students to mentor their younger friends, while at the same time learning much from them. What makes Boost-a-Buddy so special is that reflective tasks are incorporated into the methodology, enriching the experience and making its impact more meaningful for both sets of students.

Boost-a-buddy connects pupils across economic boundaries.

An opportunity to connect

St Stithians and Iphutheng decided to have five Boost-a-Buddy connects during the year for students to do a variety of stimulating activities, sometimes at school, but also in alternative environments. The St Stithians students were required to:

Sign up for the year and ensure parental consent by getting them to complete an indemnity form prior to the programme’s commencement. Dates for all five connects were supplied at this point so that all parties could diarise them well in advance.

Show a sense of responsibility by committing to attend all five of the connect sessions; developing and sustaining their relationship with their buddy over a period of time. Students who had to miss a connect were expected to excuse themselves in advance and find a replacement so that their buddy was not abandoned.

Complete the Mentorship Training session and go through the Boost-a-Buddy Training Manual.

Planning makes perfect

Having established the programme parameters, we found that it was essential to pre-book the dates of the connects as our schools had different terms and schedules. This was not an easy task, but we managed!

After the first year, we decided that it was essential for representatives from the two schools to meet online, about two weeks prior to each connect, to finalise the activities for the day, consider logistics and allocate action points to different members of the team. This helped with the smooth running of the programme on the day.

We generally had one or two main activities for each connect, but we also did rotations as our group of students exceeded 120: this meant that doing things all together could be overwhelming. Here are some details of the different connects:

Connect 1

Boost-a-Buddy picnicWe met at St Stithians for our mentorship training (going through the manual but interspersing it with activities such as the ‘privilege walk’). Then we took a bus to Iphutheng where the students did icebreakers (this was in the form of traditional clapping and singing games, group dancing etc.). They also listened to a short but powerful speech by a former Iphutheng student who had overcome personal hardships and qualified as a lawyer.

The students then had a picnic together and completed an art activity. Students had been asked to bring with them three A5 journals and things to decorate them with, together with their buddies. The reflection activity was to write down their first impressions of going into Alexandra Township, into the school, meeting their buddies and include any ideas they had about activities they would like to do during the course of the year.

Connect 2

For our second connect, we bussed the Iphutheng students to St Stithians and did rotations of:

  • Team-building and outdoor activities,
  • An art treasure hunt around campus,
  • A leadership lesson with Yertle the Turtle, with a game of “Yertle Says…”, and
  • Exploring Interland while developing IT skills in the computer labs.

This time, the students from Iphutheng and St Stithians completed an online reflection questionnaire, which gave the team useful insights and suggestions for future activities.

Connect 3

This was a movie experience – complete with popcorn and cooldrinks! We showed the children The Lorax, which has a strong environmental message but is also fun. This was followed by indigenous games on the grass under the trees. At the end of the day, the teachers met with small groups of students for informal discussion about how the programme was going and what the students were feeling or had learnt.

Connect 4

The students met up at The Wilds Nature Reserve. This lovely little park is a haven for birdlife, with lots of shady trees and rocks to climb, so it was the perfect setting for playing games and sharing a delicious picnic with healthy snacks provided by St Sithians. The students brought along their journals so they could make sketches and write poetry. They could write their reflections with their buddies.

Connect 5

As this was our final Boost-a-Buddy meeting for the year, it was fitting for us as a Methodist School, to begin with a Friendship Chapel Service where the participants in the programme were blessed. After chapel, the students had time to practise for a talent show which they put together. The performances of dance, drama, singing and even magic, were hugely enjoyable and ended the day on a high note.

We made sure to do a ‘Stop, Start, Continue’ exercise with the students and facilitators from both schools to get feedback on the programme which we are using to make improvements for next year.

If you think that Boost-a-Buddy is a programme you would like to introduce at your school, please feel free to contact phanly@stithian.com for more information and assistance.

Participants in the Boost-a-Buddy programme

Tips for successful Boost-A-Buddy connects:

  • Plan the connect dates in advance and try to stick to them.
  • Invest time in training and reflection – it a vital for the students’ character development.
  • Do not allow cellphones – they are a distraction and can highlight the social divide.
  • Have enough facilitators to manage a large group and give each one a different area of responsibility.
  • Adapt the programme according to the situational needs – we tried to structure our time too much initially and often the children just wanted time to ‘chill’ and enjoy each other’s company.
  • Music, song, dance and drama are universal languages that unite folk: incorporate them! Next year we are planning one of our connects so that it coincides with our major drama production. Many of the Iphutheng students will never have seen live theatre.
  • Food is important. We found that picnics and braai’s were always a big hit.
  • Keep records of attendance and comment on student’s level of participation in their reports. This is an insightful measure of their sense of responsibility and contribution.
  • This is a learning journey for staff as much as it is for students; embrace the challenge.