Restorative Practice


At times children may come into conflict during their school life. At Carr Lodge Academy we take a restorative approach to resolving conflict and preventing harm.
Restorative approaches enable those who have been harmed to convey the impact of the harm to those responsible, and for those responsible to acknowledge this impact and take steps to put it right.
 
Restorative approaches refer to a range of methods and strategies which can be used both to prevent relationship-damaging incidents from happening and to resolve them if they do happen.
 
Becoming a restorative school has many benefits, including increased attendance, reduced exclusions and improved achievement.
 
It can also alleviate problems such as bullying, classroom disruption, truancy and poor attendance, antisocial behaviour, and disputes between pupils, their families, and members of staff.
 
At Carr Lodge all staff are trained in using Restorative Conferencing as a way to reflect on conflicts that may have occurred. We use a Restorative Conference script, which was created as a staff, when holding discussion with the children involved in any incidents. The children understand that this is their opportunity to reflect on an incident and develop strategies to ‘make right’ what has happened and find ways to not find themselves in the same situation in the future. 
 
There is good evidence that restorative practice delivers a wide range of benefits for schools.
 
A report published by the Department for Education gave whole-school restorative approaches the highest rating of effectiveness at preventing bullying, with a survey of schools showing 97% rated restorative approaches as effective.