Wellbeing News
St Catherine's is a URSTRONG School. During Term 1 all classes teach the Friendology 101 Curriculum. The Friendology 101 curriculum is designed as a framework to support a whole-school friendship strategy; the hallmark of a URSTRONG School. Language and strategies are used by staff and students in class and on the playground.
By providing students with consistent language and strategies, Friendology 101 helps teachers create a school culture that promotes positive mental health, wellbeing, and kindness through the lens of friendship skills.
URSTRONG Schools teach Friendology 101 to all of their students, supplementing the curriculum with the online library of Educator & Parent resources. Students are considered to be “Friendship Ninjas” when they utilise their friendship skills.
Parents can access resources by visiting the website https://urstrong.com/parents/
FRIENDOLOGY 101 Curriculum
Foundation
- INNER-NINJA: This session is focused on self-compassion, teaching
students ways to treat themselves like a best friend.
- TRUE COLOURS: This session introduces students to naming
feelings and learning strategies for calming down when they feel
big emotions.
- MAKING FRIENDS: This session teaches students two strategies for
making new friends, including how to introduce themselves and
ask a friend to play.
- FRIENDSHIP FACTS: This session anchors students to the ‘truths’ in
friendship so they have realistic expectations.
- FRIEND-O-METER: This session helps students identify the
difference between healthy & unhealthy friendships and the
importance of ‘friendly’ body language.
- FRIENDSHIP FIRES®: This session teaches students, step-by-step,
how to resolve conflict with a friend by talking-it-out.
- TRICKY SITUATIONS: This session highlights hot topics for this age
group including: sharing, taking turns, and fairness.
- KIND + STRONG: This final session ties it all together, reviewing the
key concepts, and students share their culminating project,
“Friendship Ninjas Stand Strong”, designed to strengthen empathy.
Year 1/2
- INNER-NINJA: This session is focused on self-compassion, teaching
students ways to treat themselves like a best friend.
- TRUE COLOURS: This session is focused on naming feelings, helping
students recognize and embrace both Positive & Negative feelings.
- MAKING FRIENDS: This session teaches students four strategies for
making new friends, including how to introduce themselves and ask
a friend to play.
- FRIENDSHIP FACTS: This session anchors students in the ‘truths’ of
friendship so they have realistic expectations. Students learn what
respect looks & sounds like in their friendships.
- FRIEND-O-METER: This session helps students identify the
difference between Healthy & Unhealthy friendships and the impact
that body language has on our friendships.
- FRIENDSHIP FIRES®: This session teaches students, step-by-step,
how to resolve conflict with a friend and how to respond to hurt
feelings and misunderstandings.
- TRICKY SITUATIONS: This session highlights hot topics for this age
group including: Playdates & Birthday Parties, how to say “No!” in a
kind way, and how to respond to feeling bossed around.
- KIND + STRONG: This final session ties it all together, reviewing the
key concepts, and students share their culminating project,
“Put Yourself in a Friend’s Shoes”, designed to strengthen empathy.
Year 3/4
- INNER-NINJA: This session is focused on self-compassion, teaching
students how to tame their butterflies and feel calm when they are
experiencing big emotions.
- MAKING FRIENDS: This session teaches students four strategies for
making new friends, including how to introduce themselves and have a
conversation that plants a seed for a new friendship to grow.
- FRIENDSHIP FACTS: This session anchors students in the ‘truths’ of
friendship so they have realistic expectations in their friendships.
Students learn the WWW strategy for being strategic in their friendships.
- FRIEND-O-METER: This session helps students identify the difference
between healthy & unhealthy friendships and the impact that body
language has on our friendships.
- FRIENDSHIP FIRES®: This session teaches students, step-by-step, how to
resolve conflict with a friend. They learn how to respond to both a
positive and negative reaction, plus practise giving a genuine apology.
- MEAN-ON-PURPOSE: This session teaches students how to respond to
intentionally cruel, rude, or mean behaviour with a Quick Comeback.
Students learn the difference between a Friendship Fire® vs Mean-on-
Purpose behaviour, along with Reporting vs Tattling.
- TRICKY SITUATIONS: This session highlights hot topics for this age group
including: birthday parties, how to kindly decline, feeling caught in the
middle, following & copying, and “stealing” friends.
- KIND + STRONG: This final session ties it all together, reviewing the key
concepts, and students share their culminating project, “Looking into Your
Sole”, designed to strengthen empathy.
Year 5/6
- INNER-NINJA: This session is focused on self-compassion, teaching
students how to squash ANTs (Automatic Negative Thoughts) and
dispelling myths around gender stereotypes and the ‘pressures of
perfection’.
- FRIENDSHIP FACTS: This session anchors students in the ‘truths’ of
friendship so they have realistic expectations in their relationships.
Students also practise the art of conversation.
- FRIEND-O-METER: This session helps students identify the difference
between healthy & unhealthy friendships and friendship groups, both
in-person and online, and the impact body language has on our
friendships.
- FRIENDSHIP FIRES®: This session teaches students, step-by-step, how to
resolve conflict with a friend. They learn how to handle a friend’s
negative reaction and what to do if the conflict is online.
- MEAN-ON-PURPOSE: This session teaches students how to respond to
intentionally cruel, rude, or mean behaviour. They reflect on the
difference between low-level friendship issues and mean-on-purpose
behaviour.
- TRICKY SITUATIONS: This session highlights hot topics for this age group
including: how to kindly decline, feeling caught in the middle, ways to
end gossip, and navigating friendships online.
- FRIENDSHIP GROUPS: This session focuses on the powerful influence of
friends and the importance of strong boundaries. Students reflect on
the difference between fitting-in v. belonging and quality v. quantity.
- KIND + STRONG: This final session ties it all together, reviewing the key
concepts, and students share their culminating project, “Walk a Mile in
My Shoes”, designed to strengthen empathy.
I will include some photos of the students' lessons in the Week 4 newsletter.
Carmel Donlon
Wellbeing Leader