Introduction
Circle of Friends is a way of helping a vulnerable child through the organised support of their peers. It is effective for children who struggle with friendships including those with more complex behaviour, emotional and social needs and/or autistic spectrum. It involves mobilising the support of peers in generating their own ideas, targets and strategies to improve the friendship skills of the focus child. The power of the circle as in Circle Time is that is provides a safe social structure. It is governed by shared rules where difficulties can be openly discussed and a collective responsibilty is established to develop solutions.
Circle of Friends has been used with children and young people of all ages from nursery through to adulthood. The approach has been used for many years in the United Kingdom as well as in North America, where it originates. It is itself based on Circle Time which was developed in Sweden a century ago.
Outline of the Circle of Friends Approach
The following is a brief outline of process of setting up and running a successful Circle of Friends intervention:
A discussion between the school and the focus child and their parents to gain agreement
Initial meeting with whole class without the focus child being present. This is usually about 40-60 minutes in length
Peers volunteer to become Circle of Friends. Often done secretly and staff choose 6-8 members
6-8 weekly meetings of 20-30 minutes for the Circle of Friends, the focus child and the group facilitator
Targets are set each week detailing how the focussed child will be supported and minutes from the meeting are shared with the whole class
The last meeting evaluates the success of the circle and is followed by a whole class celebration
