At Crofton Downs Primary School we use the Cool Schools Peer Mediation Programme.

Why?

Conflict is a part of life and without it life would be far less stimulating and challenging, but it is how we deal with conflict that affects the way we are as children and adults. The Cool Schools Programme sees students receiving special training to enable them to act as third party mediators between two or more of their peers, who are caught up in a conflict and want to see it constructively, i.e. with both parties able to support and live with the solution.

Mediation Improves the School Learning Environment

The benefits we have seen since we introduced peer mediation include:

• Teachers have less conflict to deal with and more time for quality teaching
• Students develop an appreciation of conflict as something that can be handled positively and learnt from
• Students have become equipped with valuable skills for handling conflicts both within the school and outside of school

Listening Skills

Listening, negotiating, problem solving and critical thinking are essential for academic excellence. These skills are all sharpened considerably through students’ involvement in mediation.

Our peer mediators are trained at the beginning of each year and then have on going training throughout the year with the teacher responsible for the programme. Our year 5 and 6 children can apply to be peer mediators.

Principal Sue Ryan recalls the following conversation with a child not long after we had begun the programme: "A child asked me if I knew where a peer mediator was. On saying that I didn’t but could I help, I was told 'No, you can’t  help, I need a mediator'."