On November 22nd and 30th, the Regina Public School Division Office was filled with excited students from Grades 5-7 who came to learn about peer mediation and left with the skills to be conflict managers on their school primary playgrounds.
The Playground Conflict Managers’ program teaches students how to ask open-ended questions and be active listeners when helping resolve conflicts, and it teaches students how to help younger students work out personal conflicts using a mediation process. It takes about three hours to fully train students to be conflict managers and, depending on the number of students signed up, they work one recess a week to help with all of the little problems that pop up on the primary playground. These students will provide valuable assistance to younger students and demonstrate leadership in their schools.
Schools with new coordinators trained at the Division Office this year were from Arcola, Centennial, Connaught, Glen Elm, W.H. Ford, Imperial, Henry Janzen, Thomson and Wascana Plains. Sixteen schools will be running the program this year and are invited to the annual conference.
The 22nd annual Playground Conflict Managers’ Conference will be held this year on the afternoon of Tuesday, January 29th (at a school to be determined) with the theme of “Working Together.” The conference will bring together approximately 350 Grades 5-7 students from various Regina Public elementary schools to hone their skills and to celebrate the important work they do on our playgrounds. Jeff Cappo, Regina Public Schools’ Cultural Liaison, will be the guest speaker. We are grateful for the continued support of the Rotary Club of Regina, SaskTel and Regina Police Service for providing funding.
