About Restorative Practice

Restorative Practice

  • Is a way of viewing conflict and wrongdoing that focuses on
    - the harm this causes to people and to relationships, and
    - the obligation to repair that harm.
  • Is an approach to behaviour management and discipline that emphasises the importance of relationships.
  • Is a way for students to develop better understanding of, and empathy with, others.

 

At Howick College our Aims are:
  • To educate students towards self-directed appropriate behaviour.
  • To promote, nurture and protect healthy relationships among members of the community.
  • To make students accountable for the real consequences of their wrongdoing.

 

We do this by:
  • Having high expectations and insisting upon high standards of behaviour, and
  • Providing high levels of support and care for individuals.

 

Our philosophy is one of inclusion and relationship building, and restorative practices are built around these values.
Our values are:

COURTESY
We treat each other with respect and consideration
COMMITMENT
We pursue our goals with perseverance and resilience
CITIZENSHIP
We participate in and contribute to school life and take personal responsibility for our actions

Strategies

The Restorative Chat -

Restorative conversations are regarded as the foundation of restorative practice and are part of everyday school dialogue. Teachers are encouraged to engage in restorative conversations both as prevention and as an early intervention for relatively low-level classroom disruption. This approach models respectful dialogue and includes the language of restorative enquiry at the time of disruption.

Examples of RP questions:
  • What were you thinking?
  • Who has been affected by what you did?
  • What do you need to do to fix this?

 

 
Mini Conference -
Harmful events involving several students and/or a teacher can be resolved very quickly using the mini conference because it requires very little time to prepare. It is used when the incident is not serious enough to involve parents.
 
 
Class Conference -
This approach may be applied where a whole class is being affected by hostility or conflict, causing learning to be impeded and relationships to be damaged. A neutral facilitator, teachers, support personnel and the students meet in a circle and discuss the issues, explore the harm and come up with solutions together.
 
 
Full Conference -
This approach is also known as a community conference, it involves the whole community of people affected by an incident of serious harm. These conferences involve parents and or family members of victims and offenders. They require careful preparation of participants by a neutral facilitator. Agreements are recorded and kept as part of the school’s tracking system. A person responsible for follow up is assigned.
 
 
 
A Restorative approach ...
  • Encourages students to appreciate the consequences of their actions for others.
  • Enables students to make amends where their actions have harmed others.
  • Requires students to be accountable for their actions.
  • Encourages respect for all concerned
The ‘Social Discipline Window’ 
 
It is the aim of the Restorative approach to be operating in the top right pane of the window - holding students to high standards of behavior while at the same time providing the support and encouragement necessary for them to meet these expectations.
 
Restorative Practice works along side the School’s discipline policy and sanctions will still be applied when this is appropriate subject to any mitigating factors which may apply.
 

 

Student Welfare