Restorative Practice

At Braeburn, we use Restorative Practice approaches to improve behaviour in a consistent way in order to help support the children’s education. Through working restoratively, relationships are stronger and learning is more effective.                                                                           

There are five principles that underpin restorative practice at Braeburn:

• Relationship
• Respect
• Responsibility
• Repair
• Reintegration

To facilitate, such a process requires the ability to: 

• establish a respectful rapport with people; 
• listen and respond calmly, empathically and without interruption or judgement to all sides of an issue; 
• inspire a sense of safety and trust; 
• encourage people to express their thoughts, feelings and needs appropriately; 
• appreciate the impact of people’s thoughts, feelings, beliefs and unmet needs on their behaviours;
• encourage those involved in the problem to find their own solutions.

What is being restored?                                                                              

This depends on the context and on the needs of those involved. What is being restored is often something between the people involved such as: 

• Effective communication; 
• Relationship, and even friendship; 
• Empathy and understanding for the other’s perspective; 
• Respect; 
• Understanding the impact of one’s own behaviour on others; 
• Reparation for material loss or damage. 

However, something may also be restored within an individual – for example: 

• A sense of security; 
• Self-confidence; 
• Self-respect; 
• Dignity. 

How will this be achieved?

At Braeburn we use various strategies to repair the relationship:                                                    

Open ended questions are used to stimulate thinking and guide discussion these include stem starters…

• What happened?
• What were you thinking at the time of the incident?
• What have you thought about since?
• Who was affected by what happened and how?
• What about this has been hardest for you?
• What do you think needs to be done to make things as right as possible?
• What will you do next time you find yourself in a similar situation?

Pupils who find themselves on unacceptable behaviour will attend a restorative session at lunchtime and this will be in place of playtime. During this time qualitative discussions take place and children are encouraged to ‘dig deep’ and truly consider their actions and what they can do to repair the relationships that have been broken. Restorative conversations allow the teacher to demonstrate empathy, teach children how to resolve conflict, and most importantly, allow students to have a voice. It’s an opportunity for both the teacher and pupils to express their feelings about what’s going on in the classroom/playground while setting high expectations. Additionally, solution circles, check-ins and time to talk are often facilitated when problems arise. All pupils are respected and given the opportunity to contribute their thoughts and feelings to make a long lasting change. This approach fosters a sense of belonging, connection and teamwork.

Please click here to see the Restorative Practice Booklet that gives you further information about our practice.