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3.13 Restorative justice

Description

This activity incorporates initiatives within primary and secondary schools to implement restorative practices in the school setting. The model focuses on a whole school approach towards day-to-day interactions, pastoral structures and processes to resolve conflict and provide the school community with a consistent method to deal with bullying, harassment, violence and abuse. The project involves ongoing professional development, training with whole staffs, middle managers, student leaders and executive.

The Sydney Catholic Education Office is engaging Marist Youth Care to deliver this program. The activity will be managed by a designated officer who will take responsibility for meeting the professional needs of teachers participating in the activity.

At this stage of the planning process it is not anticipated that there will be involvement by higher education institutions or professional associations.

Contacts

Outcomes

Through participation in an AGQTP project, teachers will, in their interactions with students, have an increased capacity to provide inclusive learning environments within which all students can participate as active and engaged learners.
Through participation in an AGQTP project, teachers will, in their interactions with students, have an increased capacity to create safe, supportive and respectful learning environments through which students can become enterprising, self-directed and resilient.

Access

Targeted CEC schools in New South Wales.

Design

The Restorative Justice program provides ongoing professional development of teachers throughout a twelve-month period. There are improved skills of practical relevance for teachers at all levels - beginning teachers, experienced teachers, middle managers and executives. The work can be utilised in induction and mentoring programs. The program encourages team practices and provides a philosophy for strong school-based leadership. Schools in the program network with each other in clusters, providing a regional support network, as promoted in the Lee Dow Review of Teaching and Teacher Education. The program is innovative in that it provides school communities with new ways of dealing with students with challenging behaviours.

The professional learning strategy for this activity includes:

• school-based projects to engage teachers in workplace learning that are based on a cycle of continuous improvement model


• clusters of schools working in collegial networks.


• flexible learning activities that involve a balance between theory and practical application and use the following strategies:
  
  
  
  • information input
  
  
  • small group discussions
  
  
  • role play practice of new skills
  
  
  • reflection and feedback
  
  
  • collaborative problem solving
  
  
  
  


• onsite and offsite participation in knowledge building and skill sharing activities.

• Student Leadership Program for Primary & Secondary Schools


• Parent Evening for Primary & Secondary Schools


• A Spirituality Day for both primary and secondary schools to explore the values that underpin this work. This is consistent with the cross curricular/whole school Government initiative on values.

Implementation

The implementation of the activity will be supported by the following personnel: designated project officer, sector consultants and school based professional learning teams.

Delivery

Workplace learning, workshops/course

Timeline

By May 2008:

• schools are selected; introductory presentation is conducted in each school in which safe school concepts are explored within the context of the individual school environment; baseline data collected on behavioural referrals, detentions, within-school suspensions, out-of-school suspensions, parent contact and exclusions


• secondary schools involved in the project will all have had a Staff Development Day, an optional second day, a Student Leadership Training Day, a Parent Evening, implementation of Restorative Justice curriculum


• primary schools involved in the project will all have had a full staff development day, an optional second day, two sessions of executive training, three after-school workshops, student leadership training and implementation of parent information package


• there is ongoing consultancy support by trained external facilitators in both Primary and Secondary Schools


• submit progress report in May.

• secondary schools involved in the project, will all have had two sessions for middle management training, a Spirituality Day and a network meeting for Assistant Principals and Principals


• primary schools involved in the project will have had two sessions of executive training, a Spirituality Day and two after-school workshops. Principals will have participated in a Diocesan network meeting


• submit annual report in November.

Sectors