Restorative Practice and CETNS
We commenced our RP journey in September with the support and guidance of RP Facilitator Claire Mc Namee. We understand that RP is a process, a practice, a journey. We are not perfect…the perfect school does not exist. Instead, we are all learning and trying every day to value each other and our relationships above all else. A little bit about Restorative Practice…
Restorative Practice is a values based philosophy. It aims to consciously build relationships, respond to harm and manage conflict in a way that honours relationships and CONNECTS us to our best selves and to one another (Stowe, 2017)
We believe that for effective teaching and learning to take place, there should be good relationships within the school. The restorative approach aims to repair harm done to relationships, which allows us to build, nurture and repair relationships.
One of the main concepts of restorative practice is the use of the restorative practice questions. We will be asking the children these questions when an incident happens. We will ask both the child who was harmed and also the child who caused the harm.
These questions allow the child who was harmed the opportunity to have their voice heard and have their say and it also allows the harm doer the opportunity to take responsibility for their actions and aim to repair the relationship.
The changes that will be happening in the school over the next while are
· Relationship Building Circles in each class
· Less reward systems being used school wide
· Restorative practice questions will be used when dealing with conflict between students or between teachers and students.
· We will be encouraging children to take accountability for their actions and aim for repair.
· We will allow children time to regulate before dealing with issues.
Our RP journey is ongoing, we are all learning and trying every day to value each other and our relationships above all else. Parental support is very important in implementing restorative practice. We are just beginning this journey and we will be using it side by side with our code of behaviour. If you have any questions please feel free to contact your child’s class teacher.