Bridge Builders

Bridge Builders

Bridge Builders help people who are not getting on to understand each other’s side of the story and to solve a problem together. They build bridges of understanding between people.

All teachers and other staff members are Bridge Builders. You can ask your teacher to help you have a safe Bridge Builder Chat with a person you are having a problem with.

At Waikōwhai, we also have student Bridge Builders - they wear green Bridge Builder badges, and they are also keen to help people to solve friendship problems.

In a Bridge Builder Chat, the Bridge Builder asks each person to tell their story and to share how what happened affected them.

They ask each person what they think would help solve the problem, and then help them to reach an agreement.

They follow up later to check that the agreement is being kept.

Would you like to train to be a Bridge Builder?

Kirsten runs training sessions for people who want to become Bridge Builders several times each year - keep an eye out in the Daily Notices to sign up.

The training is one block during class-time when you learn about how to be a Bridge Builder. To earn your badge, you then have to lead 3 Bridge Builder role play chats.

This is what students have said about the Bridge Builder training:

"It has taught me how to solve problems with class mates/friends/random people."

"I have learnt not only to sort out others’ problems, but my problems as well."

"It has helped with life skills and how to calm myself down when I'm super mad. It’s just so amazing and it is a great opportunity for learning to help others out."

"Because I get in a lot of fights all time and I thought this training would help and it did help me and my friends."

"It’s helped me to feel safe around others and helped me make them feel safe in Waikōwhai."

"It helped me to be brave about talking about problems."

"It has helped me think about problems in a deeper way than running away from it."

"All the things I learned in Bridge Building, I've used for things with my friends. Like when there’s a problem, I use some of the prompts that I've remembered."

"I've used my BB skills when I have arguments with my brother and it's made us better friends/brothers."

"If there's something I don’t agree with, I listen and make my point with respectful words, like in a [Bridge Builder] chat."

Have you trained to be a Bridge Builder and want to practise?

Want to practise your skills with some role plays?

Here is the script for BB Chats:

Here's the shorter version, that you can use when you're familiar with the longer one:

Here are some role plays you can try at school:

Here are some role plays you could try at home: