Independent Thinking on Restorative Practice: Building relationships, improving behaviour and creating stronger communities (Independent Thinking On ... series)

Product Information

So, if you are not modelling what you are teaching, then you are not really teaching what you think you are. Students see whether you are showing warmth and respect toward them and to the other students and adults in your school. Often, they will model their own behaviour after your behaviour, albeit subconsciously. In this pilot, staff at every level in your school will be able to access training and support. You will have chance to reflect on how you work together, as a whole school system, to maximise opportunities for affecting sustainable change. This builds a strong relational staff culture, which is reflective and resilient. When we say Challenge, we mean things like setting limits, outlining boundaries, defining expectations and explaining consequences. After all, it is said often enough that the quality of a student’s learning cannot exceed the quality of their teachers. But I suggest that neither the quality of the teaching nor of the learning can exceed the quality of the relationship between the teacher and the learner. For those educators who are uncomfortable with the punitive world of zero tolerance, isolation booths and school exclusions, Mark Finnis – one of the UK’s leading restorative practice experts – is here to show you that there is another way.

Michelle Stowe was a teacher and is a passionate advocate for restorative practice. In this short TED Talk Michelle brings restorative practice to life, taking us through a restorative conversation and reflecting on the impact for both her and the young person. When I am not doing all things restorative, I enjoy spending time with my family, following Everton Football Club (Yes, I am a scouser) and the odd occasional cold beer. I often think that when I am reactive, it is emotional and not thought-through; when I am responsive, it is regulated and thought-through. If I am not regulated with my own emotions, I will never be able to help regulate a student’s. If we aren’t careful, we put our focus on the content and forget to simply connect. Our students need connection as well as important content. The connection creates the space to then be able to explore the content. Connections can happen by themselves, but wouldn’t you want them to happen intentionally? You might also be interested in our episodes on children's networks: https://www.spreaker.com/episode/49103861In this enlightening, challenging and timely book, Mark Finnis sets out his vision and practical experience of cultivating a relationships-based school. Mark highlights the need for staff to build trust by building relationships, with the focus on creating and strengthening the ties of human connection to promote engagement, productivity and happiness. This is an exciting opportunity for eight Surrey primary schools to join a pilot project, fully funded by Surrey County Council and jointly led by L30 Relational Systems and the Specialist Teachers for Inclusive Practice (STIP).

Deb firmly believes that strong ,established and explicitly maintained relationships are key to any successful team, or way of working. We’ll then draw things together by asking the ‘needs’ questions. What needs are there, and what needs to happen to repair damage and allow us to move forward?Restorative practice is not about replacing traditional behaviour management systems in our schools. It is certainly not about being soft or turning a blind eye to poor behaviour, no matter what the Daily Mail might say.