Staff, students and parents often interact at the school gate, in the playground, on excursions, at the canteen, on the sports field and other places around the school. Restorative practices can be used in all these places to create and maintain a safe and supportive environment where healthy relationships are nurtured.

Restorative practice is not an ‘instead of’ approach. It works hand in hand with school-wide positive behaviour support programs such as trauma-informed practices, social-emotional learning, inclusive practice, Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL) and other practices such as relational pedagogy and positive psychology.

A restorative approach offers a continuum of strategies from informal conversations through to formal conferencing. It allows school staff to build, maintain and restore positive relationships, particularly when incidents involve interpersonal conflict or wrongdoing. These strategies are most effective when used proactively as they build and nurture meaningful relationships and a strong sense of community.

The care continuum facilitates the implementation of a whole school prevention-focused positive approach to behaviour support to meet the needs of all students.

By implementing the key principles of restorative practice, schools can reduce the likelihood of students engaging in inappropriate behaviours and increase the likelihood of students having positive attitudes towards school.

Teachers have an opportunity to model restorative strategies for students in the classroom. Have a think about your own classroom practices.

Think about the following:

• What do you do to actively ensure students in your class feel welcome and that they belong?
• How does your classroom environment impact how students communicate with each other and with you?
• How do you interact with the students in your class and how do you interact with colleagues?
• How do you respond when you have a conflict with one of your students?
• How do you respond when you see a conflict arising between students in the classroom?
• What process do you use to resolve conflict or disagreement in your classroom?
• How were students involved in the development of this process?

Preventative practices are simple, low-key ways educators and other school staff can influence a positive environment. This can include strategies such as using ‘I’ statements to communicate feelings and putting the focus on how one person or one group can be impacted by the behaviour of others. The focus is on the behaviour, not the person.

Affective questions can also be used to encourage the person who caused the harm to stop and reflect on who was affected and how they were affected.

Other informal practices include proactive engagement with students and families, mentoring relationships, community service, and lunchtime table talks.

Circles are a versatile and effective tool for promoting collaboration, building relationships and addressing conflict. They aim to open dialogue and explore issues that matter to communities, whilst actively providing voice and agency.

This approach is sometimes called ‘circle time’, where the whole group or class form a circle to interact. This promotes inclusiveness and provides opportunities for everyone to speak and listen to one another in a safe environment. Circles can be used for:

• celebrating student successes
• beginning and ending the day
• discussing difficult issues.

By going around the circle in order, everyone has an opportunity to be heard. This process also reduces the risk of discussions being dominated by a small number of people. A talking piece such as a ball or soft toy can be introduced to facilitate taking turns to speak in the circle.

For more information on circle pedagogy, NSW staff can access Restorative Practice eLearning at: Restorative Practice.

Social-emotional learning can help students and adults to calm themselves when they feel angry, make friends, resolve conflicts respectfully and make safe choices. Specific SEL skills include:

• recognising and managing emotions
• developing caring and concern for others
• establishing positive relationships
• making responsible decisions
• handling challenging situations.

To learn more visit social-emotional learning.

Restorative approaches recognise that students may not yet have developed the social and emotional skills needed to build and maintain positive, healthy relationships.

Teachers can support the development of these capabilities by explicitly teaching new skills and rehearsing scenarios throughout the restorative conversation process.

Restorative problem-solving conversations, also known as restorative conversations, are structured discussions that address incidents of conflict or harm. They seek to:

• explore the behaviour of concern or incident
• gain an understanding of how those involved have been impacted
• determine what can be done to repair the harm caused and restore relationships.

Restorative conversations also support the development of pro-social capabilities by creating opportunities for social and emotional learning.

For more information on restorative problem-solving conversations, NSW staff can access Restorative Practice eLearning at: Restorative Practice.

There are many different types of conflict resolution programs which help students by teaching them how to manage conflict, defuse situations, repair hurt feelings and reduce the likelihood of retaliation after a conflict. To learn more visit conflict resolution.

In certain contexts, schools may consider using the peer mediation program to implement restorative approaches to behaviour. Peer mediation invites students to take responsibility for their actions by working together to find solutions to any conflict. Trained students (mediators) lead a structured process which enables students to work together to find solutions to conflict.

Peer mediation aims to:

• increase awareness of how conflict can affect peoples' lives and relationships
• improve communication between students and between teachers and students
• teach students skills such as listening, critical-thinking and problem-solving
• empower students by having them take greater responsibility for resolving their disputes.

While peer mediation has been shown to reduce disciplinary issues, it is important to ensure that conflict resolution does not become the task of students alone.

To learn more visit peer mediation.

Individuals can attempt to repair a harm that has impacted the school community by taking part in a service or project that benefits the community.