We are delivering a Zippy’s Friends programme as part of our SPHE curriculum in 1st and 2nd class this year. This programme is recommended by the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS). The programme teaches coping and social skills and has been run successfully with over a million children around the world.
The programme is built around a set of six stories. Zippy is a stick insect and his friends are a group of young children,and the stories show them confronting issues that are familiar to young children-friendship, communication, feeling, lonely, bullying, dealing with change and loss, and making a new start. Each story is illustrated by brightly coloured pictures.
Research shows that the positive benefits of the programme for children are:
Increase in positive coping strategies
Improved social skills
Improved class climate
Reduction in bullying
Improved academic performance
There are 6 modules which are delivered over 24 sessions. The content will be delivered over a two year cycle.
There are 6 Home Activities in total, one on each of the six themes covered in each story. Your child will bring home a sheet with an activity for you to do together and these activities will help reinforce the learning from the classroom and help your child use the skills they have learned.
The modules covered this year will include
Module 1:Feelings
Goal:To improve children’s abilities to recognise difficult feelings and to identify coping strategies to deal with those feelings
Session 1:Feeling sad-feeling happy
Session 2:Feeling angry or annoyed
Session 3:Feeling jealous
Session 4:Feeling nervous
Module 2:Communication
Goal:To improve children’s abilities to communicate their feelings
Session 1:Improving communication
Session 2:Listening
Session 3:Who can help us?
Session 4:Saying what you want to say
Module 3:Making and breaking relationships
Goal:To improve children’s abilities to make friends and to cope
with rejection and loneliness
Session 1:How to keep a friend
Session 2:Dealing with loneliness and rejection
Session 3:How to resolve conflicts with friends
Session 4:How to make friends
For more information on the programme you can visit www.partnershipforchildren.org.uk
If you have any questions about the programme please contact the school email or by phone through the school office.