Restorative Justice

WHAT IS RESTORATIVE JUSTICE?

Restorative Justice is a process that aims to resolve conflict without the focus being on ‘blame’ and ‘punishment’. It is an approach in which everyone within the school community feels valued and heard.  The principles it promotes are as follows: honesty; respect; cooperation; acknowledging harm caused, which therefore encourages accountability; mutually agreeing ways in which to move forward.  These are some of our core values at Burstow Park School, hence this approach will support all members of the school community to ‘live-out our values’.

It is a valuable approach in school as it allows the individual who has caused harm to see the impact of their behaviour, as well as allowing everyone involved the opportunity to be heard in a safe and controlled environment.

What happened?  Who has been harmed?  What needs to happen to make things right again and rebuild relationships?  Using the guidance of a trained facilitator, everyone involved will be enabled to mutually and respectfully agree how they are going to treat each other in the future; everyone who has participated in the process will become invested in its successful outcome.