Peer Mediators

Peer Mediation is when students help other students to find a way of solving problems, disagreements or arguments. The students who are having the problem meet with two trained mediators to say what the problem is for them and how they feel about it. The mediators then help them to decide what they each need for the problem to be solved. A solution which meets each person’s needs is chosen and an agreement is written down.

At Deer Park West, our Peer Mediator Program is part of a whole school approach to school wellbeing supporting our school values and behaviours. This program involves training our Year 5 & 6 student leaders to take on the role of Peer Mediator in the yard during recess and lunch breaks. They play a supportive role in assisting younger students in solving problems.

Students take part in a whole day training session to learn communication skills such as active listening and team work, strategies to resolve conflict and mediate a problem.

Our Peer Mediators wear a special yellow vest and are on duty each recess and lunch time to assist children who are having any difficulties in the playground, or to help children find friends to play with.

Peer Mediation is a voluntary and confidential process bound by specific ground rules. It follows a step by step formula that assists students to work through immediate problems, take responsibility for generating their own solutions, agree on those that are practical and acceptable to both students and then work at implementing these. In doing so it enables children to develop a basis for future problem solving.