Willy Kids Are Friendly Kids

The Willy Kids Are Friendly Kids program was designed and first implemented by the staff at Williamstown PS in 1994, to improve the general “tone” of the school and address the children’s specific needs in the area of social skills. The Willy Kids program was one of the strategies implemented as part of a welfare and positive behaviour priority in the school’s first charter and since then, has become the cornerstone of all we do at Williamstown Primary.

Largely, the program was introduced to raise the level of awareness of social skill issues and develop in children the appropriate skills and attitudes for them to deal with changing complex and dynamic social situations. At the time of its implementation, the program was one of the first in schools, and has since been replicated in many primary and secondary settings throughout Australia. The program is built on the back of the extraordinary work of psychologist Helen McGrath, who worked with the staff of Willy Primary during its development and introduction.

The Willy Kids Are Friendly Kids program underpins everything we do at Williamstown Primary. A ‘Willy Kid’ is a proper noun, adjective and a verb, for it is what our students identify themselves as the moment they step through our gates. For every one of our students, past and present, this is a lifelong identification and we are proud to say, “Once a Willy Kid, always a Willy Kid!”