Restorative Practices

Restorative Practices at Raglan Area School

Through Restorative Practices we seek to enhance relationships amongst our students, and between students, and staff and parents, so as to nurture our sense of community at our kura.

A positive school climate, in which young people feel connected, is the best environment for learning.

Maintaining and developing Restorative Practices in Raglan Area School has been a key project in our current Strategic and Professional Development Plans.

Our Aims Are:

• To educate students towards self-directed right behaviour;

• To promote, nurture and protect healthy relationships among students , with staff, families and community.

We will do this by:

• Having high expectations of our students behaviours, ourselves and achievement.

• Providing high levels of support and care for individuals.

Students perceive this approach as being Firm But Fair:

Being ‘firm, but fair’ involves:

• Clearly articulating and reinforcing expectations,
• Adhering to fair process in dealing with all cases of conflict and wrong-doing, and;
• Recognising that wrong-doing primarily causes harm to relationships, and that this harm must be repaired in order to move forward.

The Social Discipline Window:

• At the heart of Restorative Practices is an understanding of the Social Discipline Window which depicts the possible ways in which teachers (or parents) could respond to undesirable behaviours in young people.
• In a primarily punitive response, the wrongdoer is held to high standards, but without the support necessary for him to reach them.  Such a response can be alienating and stigmatising. It can also fail to effect any real change in behaviour.In a more permissive response, the wrongdoer may find the support he needs without being held to account for his actions.It is the aim of the Restorative approach to be operating in the top right pane of the window – holding students to high standards of behaviour while at the same time providing the support and encouragement necessary for them to meet these expectations.  The Restorative approach emphasises working with students to educate them to right behaviour. In this way, a Restorative approach is perceived as being authoritative, rather than authoritarian.

A Restorative Approach:

• Encourages students to appreciate the consequences of their actions for others.
• Enables students to make amends where their actions have harmed others.
• Requires students to be accountable for their actions.
• Encourages respect for all concerned.

Restorative Practices:

• Is a way of viewing conflict and wrong-doing that focuses on:
  • The harm these cause to people and to relationships, and
  • The obligation to repair that harm.
• Is an approach to behaviour management and discipline that emphasises the importance of relationships.
• Is a way for students to develop better understanding of, and empathy with, others
• Is a practice that begins with the teacher understanding their own paradym, their own emotional state and their own capacity in these relationships.