"In a world where you can be anything, be kind." Caroline Flack
Restorative Practice – A Proactive and Reactive Approach
Looking for an introduction to some of the core principles of restorative practice to see if it aligns with your school's values and ethos? We are offering a series of masterclasses via Zoom to give you a taster of what our training can deliver. We are currently delivering:
- An Introduction to RP for School Leaders and Governors
- An Introduction to Circles for all Staff
- How to Have a Restorative conversation
- Behaviour Through a Restorative Lens
Contact: bookings@restorative-practice.co.uk for more information
All Masterclasses cost £125 per school with up to 5 staff members able to attend.
Why RP?
Why Circles?
Why Circles?
With 11 year's experience of restorative practice (RP) in schools, I have seen first hand the impact that developing a restorative culture brings. Before setting up to deliver RP training on a national level, I led on the whole school implementation of the practice in an inner city academy in Liverpool. Within a two-year period the school saw a 51% reduction in FTEs and a reduction in lateness and improved attendance. In a focus group of 10 year 10 students at risk of permanent exclusion, 8 remained in school and sat their GCSEs. The school saw staff retention increase and days off due to sickness go down. Staff were teaching with doors open, on quiet corridors with smiling faces and what's more, the students were turning up, happy, AND on time!
So what did we do differently? We put people and relationships at the heart of everything we did. We focussed on doing things WITH people rather than TO them or FOR them. We encouraged a shift in thinking over time where staff and students saw the breaking of a 'rule' as an offence against the person not just the school and we gave people the opportunity to accept conflict as a natural part of life and to use it as an opportunity to build, strengthen and repair the relationship.
Restorative practice teaches all of us about behaviour in a way that seeks to understand it, rather than simply manage it. It encourages setting out really high expectations of behaviour in a way that makes everyone want to raise their game as the nurture, support and care is there to build relationships.
Join us for An Introduction to Restorative Practice for School Leaders and Governors and find out more.
Why Circles?
Why Circles?
Why Circles?
Circles build relationships. If the purpose of the restorative conversation is to repair a relationship after hurt or harm, then the purpose of restorative circles is to build relationships that we see the value in repairing.
I once had a teacher of 28 years tell me he had learned more about his form group through doing circles for 15 minutes twice a week than he would have in 5 years as their form teacher. Circles provide all students with an opportunity to be heard, to listen and give them an opportunity to reach out for support before they let their behaviour do the talking. AND circles are not just for students, introducing them in staff meetings and having specific solution-focussed circles, offering support for staff, save time and can be extremely productive.
If you are already using circles perhaps through another resource such as Philosophy for Children, then having an understanding of how to support students effectively in a circle will complement such programmes.
Why have a Restorative Conversation?
Why have a Restorative Conversation?
Why have a Restorative Conversation?
I have facilitated thousands of restorative conversations, both in my work and home environment and very time I do one it reminds me of how important they are. A traditional approach to conflict in a school environment might be to implement a sanction and to tell all of those involved 'not to play with each other again' but what does this teach them? That when things get challenging we walk away and bury our heads? That conflict is something that we should shy away from? That if we upset someone, it's okay to just let it go and not seek to repair that situation?
Conflict when dealt with using the restorative questions provides us with a HUGE opportunity for learning. Restorative conversations put the person who has been harmed at the centre of the conversation to put it right, seek to develop critical competences and engage those who have caused harm or upset in a process that allows them to make amends. A restorative conversation is more than saying sorry; it's a skill for life.
Why are they doing THAT!!!!?
Why have a Restorative Conversation?
Why have a Restorative Conversation?
As a teacher and later a parent, I would say learning about the brain and then teaching children and young people about their brains, is the single best thing you can do to improve relationships, promote self-awareness and encourage self-understanding. The brain is the most complex part of the human body, its development and reactiveness have a huge impact on behaviour but how much do we really consider what is going in inside the brain when dealing with challenging behaviour? This session will help you to understand the developing brain in a way that can be taught to children and young people and will help you to support them in developing strategies for calming themselves down when their reactive brain has taken over.
In addition to considering the developing brain we will also look at our interactions and how what we do and say may trigger a reactive response as well as learning a way of having a conversation that is less likely to trigger a reaction using "I feel..." statements.