Restorative Practice
We use Restorative Practice to resolve many day to day issues between students and staff. It follows a clearly defined process. There are a set of questions that teachers work through to understand both sides of an incident, build trust and ensure a mutually agreed upon resolution. One of the key components is the follow up.
There are three phases of the Restorative Process
By focusing on building and maintaining positive and respectful relationships across our school community, PB4L Restorative Practice gives our school staff best practice tools and techniques to maintain and restore relationships if things go wrong. PB4L Restorative Practice has four underlying principles:
- Positive interpersonal relationships are a major influence on behaviour
- A culture of care supports the mana of all individuals in the school community
- Cultural responsiveness is key to creating learning communities of mutual respect and inclusion.
- A restorative approach leads to individuals taking responsibility for their behaviour.
There are some key outcomes expected of the PB4L Restorative Practice process
- a calmer school environment, with less classroom disruption and more time for teaching
- an increase in the engagement and learning of students in the classroom
- growth in relational and problem-solving skills, both for adults and students across the school community
- improvements in attitudes and relationships across the whole school community
- a consistent best-practice approach across the whole school community that aligns with the school’s shared values.
PB4L Restorative Practice is currently in more than 300 schools in New Zealand.