Restorative Practices across the Calwell Cluster
Calwell Primary School, Isabella Plains Primary School, Richardson Primary School, Theodore Primary School and Calwell High School.
“Restorative Justice is a process whereby all the parties with a stake in a particular offence come together to resolve collectively how to deal with the aftermath of the offence and its implications for the future.”
- Nicola Preston July 2002
Restorative Practices is based on the building of positive relationships throughout the school community. This involves staff, students, parents and the wider school community.
Calwell Primary school staff are committed to the successful implementation of restorative practices throughout our school community this commitment commenced in term 1, 2005.
Our school is part of a cluster initiative to have all schools in the Calwell cluster using a restorative practices model. The cluster has a shared consensus of a seamless approach from pre-school to year 10 which will build the social capacity of students, staff, parents and the wider community. This also involves providing continuing professional development to all staff and the training of new staff in restorative practices including the use of relational questioning techniques, circle time and conferencing techniques.
Teachers at Calwell Primary have committed to having;
- Regular circle time sessions in their classrooms
- Staff meetings will occasionally be run using circle time strategies to allow all members of staff to have equal opportunity to voice their opinions.
- Teachers will use relational questioning techniques when dealing with issues in the playground and the classroom.
- Teachers at Calwell Primary are encouraged to use other colleagues and executive to give them time to allow them to solve problems that arise within their classroom or that they have encountered in the classroom. Dealing with problems in this way ensures that children and teachers are developing positive relationships.
Our school and cluster have a number of teachers who have been trained and are available to assist with problem solving circles and conferencing.
The following pyramid is a visual diagram of Restorative Practices at Calwell Primary School. This pyramid outlines the proactive measures taken to ensure relationships are built between staff, students and the wider community. It also outlines the measures taken in order to repair relationships when harm has occurred.
