Mrs Cruse (Head of Years 7 and 8)

Friendships are a very important part of life and as educators, we understand how every student wants a friend at school and how good their school day has been depending on how good their interactions with their friends have been.

We are also aware that friendships can be very difficult to navigate. On Friday 25th November, Year 7 had their annual Friendship Day workshop to help give the students tools to help them navigate friendships when things go wrong but importantly to also learn to empathise with others and how others may well interpret situations very differently. 

The workshop focused on the film Ron’s Gone Wrong; as they watched and analysed the film, the students discussed the various themes such as isolation, bullying and whether friendships remain constant.  This moved onto how social media was represented in the film and this was linked to their use of social media generating discussion around being a passive or active user.

The year group also looked at different friendship scenarios and had to think how they would try and solve these without conflict, so they had to think both logically and empathetically. 

Here are some Year 7 student reflections from the day:

Enya Belcher: “I really enjoyed the film as it was entertaining. Aside from being entertaining, I think the morals of the film were really important as it shows the pros and cons of social media and how to use it responsibly without hurting anybody else’s feelings.”

Miya Ladher: “The film was amazing, it really helped us with understanding others perspectives and how they might be feeling as well as teaching us important morals. Overall, this was a fantastic learning experience!”

Eleanor Benham: “I enjoyed the movie and I think I have improved my intellectual confidence throughout the day. I have also learned about the statistics of screen time, that was quite surprising! Overall it was such an engaging day for all!”