Healthy, connected relationships create healthy, connected communities!

The Maroondah Positive Education Network in partnership with the Eastland Shopping Centre and the Maroondah City Council are bringing URSTRONG’s Friendology program to life. In addition to the Friendship Ninja Zone, where URSTRONG Schools go on excursions and participate in friendship-themed activities, their teachers have received training in our whole-school friendship strategy and are using our Friendship Journals as their daily planners in their schools. Watch this Video

Friendship Ninja Zone

In this interactive space, URSTRONG Schools will be displaying what they are learning each month, centring on the monthly themes in the Friendship Journal. Some of the themes include: Kindness, Trust, and Diversity. The space also provides an opportunity for the community to come and participate, learn the language and strategies taught in our Friendology curriculum.

Friendship Journals

The Friendship Journal has been partially subsidised by Eastland as a commitment to supporting the youth of Maroondah and leadership in creating a healthy and connected community.

This annual planner for schools is designed to promote mental health + wellbeing through friendship skills. With reflection questions, activities, and monthly themes, the Friendship Journal ties URSTRONG’s whole-school friendship strategy together – connecting home + school on a daily basis.

URSTRONG and Eastland share a strong, mutual interest in empowering youth and school communities while positively influencing all aspects of their lives via the development of healthy friendships.

A whole-community strategy, URSTRONG utilises the Friendology 101 curriculum, the Educator and Parent Resource Centres, and a variety of workshops and teacher training sessions. Using practical, step-by-step instruction, students learn how to differentiate and manage conflict (Friendship Fires™ vs Mean-on-Purpose) with kindness and respect. Learn More


URSTRONG Schools in Maroondah

We’re so grateful to the incredible teachers and HOPE (Head of Positive Education) Leaders at these schools who are bringing our curriculum to life and empowering their students with friendship skills:

  • Bayswater Primary School
  • Bayswater West Primary School
  • Bayswater South Primary School
  • Croydon Community School
  • Croydon Hills Primary School
  • Eastwood Primary School
  • Great Ryrie Primary School
  • Heathmont College
  • Kalinda Primary School
  • Mullum Primary School
  • Ringwood Heights Primary School
  • Ringwood North Primary School
  • Tinternvale Primary School

The Heart of the Partnership

This partnership would not have been possible without the incredible passion, dedication, and heart of Edwina Ricci, the visionary behind the Communities of Wellbeing and the leader of Maroondah’s Positive Education Network (MPEN). Edwina worked closely with our CEO, Michael Kerford, to form this unique partnership bringing URSTRONG to an entire community!