Restorative Practices

Restorative Practices - Why is everyone in circles?

At St Mary’s we have embedded restorative circles as part of our daily practice. Restorative circles build a strong classroom culture, showing students the value of relationships and supporting them to take ownership of their learning and actions.

Sitting in a circle at school is similar to sittig around the dinner table at home. Being seated in this way encourages everyone to be at the same level, look at each other and feel comfortable sharing their thoughts. 

At school, cirlces are used to engage all students in active listening and speaking. They are used a different times of the day for different purposes and are short and sharp, focussing in on a question where all students are invited to participate. You might like to try some different circle types at home as part of your dinner table discussions.