Creating positive outcomes from negative behaviour

At  St. Nicolas  C of E Academy, we use The Thrive Approach. This  approach  helps us to support the emotional health and well-being of all our children. It may take the form of one-to one sessions, small group work or whole class teaching.

Thrive calls restorative practices ‘Shining a Light’ on behaviour.

Just like in the bible we help children to learn how to repair, repent and reconcile...

Restorative Approaches

Pupils may participate in restorative justice processes (Shining a Light), if they are involved in conflict at school.

This may involve:-

¨ Helping a child to recognise and begin to understand their own behaviour .

¨ Helping them make links between emotion, sensation and behaviour.

¨ Helping them name, sequence, and make links between cause and effect, actions and consequences

¨ Helping to re-shape their  stress-regulation system so that they can sense STOP feel  STOP, then think, choose and  act

¨ Helping to  move a child that  has dysregulated back to a position where they can access their thinking

Positive Outcomes

¨ Joint responsibility resulting in resolution of the problem

¨ Acknowledgement of wrong doing

¨ Genuine apology

¨ Long-term changes in behaviour

¨ Friendships/ relationships repaired

¨ Honesty due to a non-judgemental approach

The Language of Restorative Practice

When our pupils find themselves in conflict or upset we will ask them:-

 What happened?

What were you feeling when it happened?

What do you feel about it now?

What needs to happen to put this right?

What will you do differently next time?

We may also say to our pupils:-

 What would you think if this had happened to you?

What other choices could you have made?

How can you make sure this doesn’t happen again?

How do restorative approaches benefit my child and school?

Restorative approaches develop a happier school where the focus is on learning not conflict. We endeavour to create a school community, that underpins our Christian  values, where every child feels safe and respected, enjoys coming to school and is confident that when things go wrong we will do everything we can  to help put it right.

Restorative approaches ‘shine a light’ on pupil’s behaviour and help them to think how their behaviour has affected others. It helps children to develop respect, responsibility, and integrity.