Dear Parents and Carers,

URSTRONG: Friendology 101 

This week, Mr Pollard and I had the privilege of meeting the families of our Kindergarten class of 2024. During that meeting, I mentioned how proud I was that St Matthew’s is a URSTRONG School. This term we celebrate one year of membership of the URSTRONG community. URSTRONG’s whole-school friendship strategy has improved our school’s social climate, providing our students and teachers with a common language of friendship and empowering students with skills to create a culture of kindness at our school. We are committed to empowering your children with the skills, language and confidence to be better friends and develop healthier relationships.

At St Matthew’s, teachers understand that good quality friendships and relationships are critical to child development. Healthy friendships help forge skills like negotiation, cooperation, and conflict resolution. They teach our children how to be supportive and show empathy. They also stimulate independent thinking and open children up to new ideas.

I’d like to remind you to take advantage of FREE Parent Membership to access hundreds of resources that will allow you to learn the same language and strategies being taught in our classrooms through the Friendology 101 curriculum. We hope that, as a URSTRONG Family, you will reinforce the important messages of empowerment, self-compassion, & kindness at home.

Petra Cole
Assistant Principal 
petra.cole@cg.catholic.edu.au