Being an entry year, Grade 3 is an exciting time at BSS. Teachers work hard to ensure that new students have a smooth transition into the BSS program and experience a happy integration with their fellow classmates. In Grade 3, students use their year long study of community as a way to begin to build new relationships and strengthen existing ones.
This year the Grade 3 girls decided to “take a stand for community” both in the classroom and on the playground.
A poster hanging in the front of the School reads, “Let’s hope you like the friends she meets. You’ll be seeing them a lot over the next 45 years.” Since Grade 3 is an entry year at BSS, it is exciting to see some of these relationships begin. In September, 20 “old” girls and 20 “new” girls enter what looks like two classrooms, however, more often than not the sliding door is open between the two and classmates, teachers and any other classroom visitors are able to flow freely between the two spaces.
As the girls work together, they learn about themselves as learners as well as learning about each other as friends and contributors to the classroom community. The Grade 3 girls participate in weekly teambuilding sessions to develop their understanding of community and help them learn their roles within that community. The students learn about conflict resolution, working in groups, playground safety and responsibilities, and bullying. The teambuilding sessions not only help the new relationships flourish but also help to strengthen existing friendships and teach the girls to welcome the new students into these close relationships.
By the end of the year, the distinction between “old” girls and “new” girls is unrecognizable and parents should “hope [they] like the friends she meets. You’ll be seeing them a lot over the next 45 years!”