Restorative Practices

We are getting to the busy end of the year. The end of school celebrations, Advent and 2024 transition signal the end of the academic year and disruptions to our normal learning routines. 

A restorative strategy we have been using to help students prepare for changes in routine and teach expected behaviours is preparation circles. These are a modification of our daily check in and check out circles, where students list the feelings that each person, student and staff member should feel at certain events, e.g. I want to feel included, supported, safe and excited when I go to my new classroom. Students then come up with 2 - 3 behaviours that they will need to show to make those things happen. This supports students to co-create a plan for positive behaviour and increases the chance of success. 

We would like to thank all of our parents for supporting our restorative journey, we are officially one year into our partnership with Real Schools and look forward to more learning to come in 2024. Our facilitator Kirsty Lush will hold another parent information evening in Term 1.

Finally, we would like to thank the students of St Mary’s who have embraced the restorative process, built their emotional intelligence and showed us, once again what upstanding and empathetic young people they are. We are committed to continuing this journey together to continue to build committed teachers, caring students and a connected community.