Restorative Practices

Celebrating how far we have come!

This term we are coming close to marking one year working with Real Schools on our restorative partnership. On the last day of Term 3 our partner and facilitator Kirsty Lush presented an inspiring and engaging day of professional development for our staff. 

This was a day for celebrating and sharing our success so far, with staff sharing practices to support our students socially, emotionally and building their skills in dealing with conflict. Our St Mary’s learners are engaging with the restorative process, having check in circles daily and are using more affective language. 

Dealing with conflict using restorative questions has been a focus throughout the year and an area of learning for both staff and students at St Marys. Real Schools provide questions to lead these conversations for those who have done the wrong thing and for those who have been harmed. These questions lead students through conflict restoratively, encouraging ownership of behaviour and ways to restore relationships. Our learners have embraced these questions and are now beginning to lead their own restorative conversations independently.

We look forward to continuing our journey with the support of Kirsty and the Real Schools team and supporting our students in building their emotional intelligence, confidence and problem solving skills.