14 September 2021
Abingdon School in Partnership was delighted to hold the first in person meeting with the new cohort of Peer Support Leads for the next academic year. Last Thursday, over 40 students gathered in the Hospitality Suite to be trained in the skills around empathetic listening which are crucial to the role.
At the end of last year 14 Abingdon students in the Lower Sixth were interviewed and selected to work in collaboration with over 50 students from across the town as part of the growing OX14 partnership program. The students, having experienced the training in safeguarding, listening and counselling skills will now support the pastoral care of younger students within their own school. Students from Abingdon, Fitzharrys, John Mason, Larkmead and St Helen and St Katharine are joined for the first time by peers from Radley College. The aim of the program is for the Peer Support Leads to develop their own interpersonal skills, while also getting to know young people from across the town. Their training will then be put to good use supporting the mental health and wellbeing of young people within their own school as part of a town wide mentoring program. The program is entering its third year and we look forward to continuing to embed the notion of collective peer support across schools within Abingdon in the coming years.
