Protectiveness - How Can Older Students Contribute to the Inclusion of Novice Students in the Community?

The purpose of the project in which ninth-grade students welcome first-year students to the new school environment, encourage and help them throughout the year, and build friendly ties was to raise the older students' awareness of the importance of the feeling of safety for students' comprehensive development. We further wished to encourage them for the planning of activities and assuming responsibility for their implementation. e objective was to develop and facilitate cooperation, acceptance, positive relationships, and respect for diversity. Ninth-grade students were very motivated for planning and socialising with the younger students. They wanted to be included in the planning of activities, as they shared the same experience with the novice students, i.e. starting school with the support of a protector. Together, we provided answers to the questions of which strategies can be used to facilitate intergenerational cooperation and ensure a feeling of safety and acceptance at school. Throughout the implementation of the activities, the teacher motivated and guided them from planning to implementation. The results of the realisation of the objectives were the easier inclusion of first-grade students in the school community, the connections established between first- and ninth-grade students, their joint active spending of leisure time during breaks, training students for independent and responsible implementation of the planned activities, and equal coexistence in the school, where students feel safe and accepted.