CONFERENCE PAPERS
RESTORATIVE PRACTICES IN SCHOOLS
The Way Forward
20 October 2009, Melbourne, Australia

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Click blue paper names for full length papers.

Keynote Speakers:   
Hans Kueffer is Principal at Antonio Park Primary School, Mitcham.
Kevin Sertori is Principal at Donburn Primary School, Doncaster East.
John Jacobs is Principal at Dorset Primary School, Croydon

John, Hans and Kevin have worked together in a “support” group since the early days of their principalship. All three strongly believe that school should be a positive and enjoyable experience, free from all forms of harassment. In 2007 they participated in the Development Program for High Performing Principals and used this as an opportunity to explore best practice in Restorative Approaches to behaviour management.  The program took them to New Zealand, Scotland and England in June/July 2007.

Amongst other things they learnt  that:

• The change to a restorative approach involved shifting culture at many levels
• Schools need to be ready for change
• The journey needs to be planned over 3 to 5 years
• The leadership team must be committed to change

Peer Mediation in Primary Schools
Fred Stern from Conflictsolvers.com.au
This workshop presents an overview of peer mediation in primary schools. The presenter has worked with teachers/students in these types of programs since 1990. What’s worked, what hasn’t? How are other schools using this program? This workshop will be of interest for those thinking of introducing the program or those who have this program in place already.

Fred Stern has been well known in the mediation field for his high profile work in the area of peer mediation in both primary and secondary schools. He has authored a manual, “Mediation in Schools – Creating a Hassle Free Environment.” Fred estimates that he has currently trained over 1000 students at both primary and secondary level. Fred’s work with schools has earned  him 2 awards. In 1996 his school program won a “Schools Excellence Award” for the Barwon Region whilst in 1997 his mediation program won a national award as a best practice ‘anti-violence’ program.

Restorative Justice – An International Perspective 
Marg Armstrong – Just Practices/ Vice President, VARJ
Restorative Practices in Victorian schools is moving at a frenetic pace. It is timely now to look at the global picture. During this workshop, I will inform and share experiences of schools and communities in New Zealand, the UK and Canada. This will enhance our understanding and provide inspiration and practical ideas for practitioners in schools.

Marg Armstrong is a teacher who has for the past 8 years been working with schools implementing restorative practices. In 2004 she was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to research restorative practices in schools internationally and is an inaugural board member of Restorative Practices International. She works as a private consultant.

Restorative Practices – One School’s Journey
Lydia Chisholm  & Deborah Trengrove – St Leonards College, Brighton
St Leonard’s College is a  coeducational school that has approximately 200 staff across two campuses and a student population of about 1700 ranging from ELC to year 12. This workshop describes the journey the school experienced  in introducing restorative practices.   The worksho will highlight both the successes as well as the problems of this new approach.  

Lydia is the Restorative Practices leader, Year 7 coordinator and a member of the Pastoral Care Committee at St Leonards College. Lydia has taught a wide range of year levels from Prep to Year 8 and over a number of years has taken on extra pastoral roles within the school. Working with Deborah Trengrove she has undertaken the role of implementing Restorative Practices within the school.

Dr Deborah Trengrove is Director of Pastoral Care at St Leonard’s College and the senior psychologist at the school. Deborah started her career in education as a secondary mathematics teacher, then completed her masters and doctoral degrees in psychology. She has worked as a school psychologist for over 20 years. Deborah has written numerous parenting articles and regularly conducts training sessions with a range of staff and parent groups. In her role as Director of Pastoral Care, Deborah is responsible for the implementation of the restorative practices approach at St Leonard’s College.

Restorative Practices for all Shapes and Sizes
Lisa O’Brien & Melissa Pongracic – Marnabek Specialist School, Cranbourne

In this presentation , you will:

• learn about Marnebek Schools journey using Restorative Practices;
• learn strategies when working with children, with challenging behaviours; learning difficulties, ASD, ADHD etc);
• how to implement the traffic light system, anger mountains and
• hear a DVD from the students on their views on Restorative practices and how it has impacted them.  

Lisa O’Brien is the Acting Assistant Principal (student wellbeing) at Marnebek School (Special) with a  Masters in Special Education. She has worked in both special and mainstream settings.  Lisa is very passionate about Restorative Practices and was able to introduce RP slowly into Marnebek school and has seen huge difference in the relationships and behaviours within the school.

Melissa Pongracic is a Lead Teacher at Marnebek School. She has worked both in mainstream and is now in a special school setting. Melissa is very passionate about restorative practices and has used it in her classroom practices and has seen its benefits in the Middle school and now is implementing it into the Junior school.

Growing Restorative Practices in Catholic School Communities
Bronwyn Egan & Philippa Lovell from Catholic Education Office, Melbourne
Tony Levett, Principal, St Dominics PS, Camberwell

The Catholic Education Office Melbourne has been supporting schools in the area of Restorative Practices for over 5 years, Today a primary and secondary school will tell of their journey to introduce, implement and sustain strategies across the school. Staff from SEOM will also discuss their framework for supporting schools and their accreditation process.

Philippa and Bronwyn are education officers in the Student Wellbeing Unit at the CEOM with the portfolio area of restorative practices. Tony is the Principal of St Dominics PS , Camberwell

Embedding the Use of Circles in a Secondary College
Jenny Muir, Secondary School Nurse & Di Douglas, Director of Student Wellbeing–
 Mordialloc College
This workshop will focus on the use of circles in the classroom and year levels to build positive relationships, explore curriculum and strengthening learning. It will be an interactive workshop.

Jenny is a secondary school nurse and Di is the student wellbeing director. They are both very passionate about embedding restorative practices into a secondary college. In our student support roles we are constantly reminded about the importance of the building and strengthening of relationships to strengthen student wellbeing.

Restorative Classrooms – what they look like, how they work and how to organize them
Ruth Van Leerdam – Antonio Park PS, Mitcham
This workshop will look at classroom practices that embrace all aspects of “the Restorative Practices pyramid.”  It will show how to use simple ideas and quick activities to develop the restorative nature of classrooms.  It will help teachers to organise their classrooms and manage their time so that Restorative Practices can be embraced in classroom practices.

Ruth van Leerdam teaches Grade 5 and 6 at Antonio Park Primary School in Mitcham.  Ruth has a heart for student wellbeing and was introduced to Restorative Practices five years ago.  Since then she has been involved in learning about Restorative Practices and has been a key player in implementing it at her school.  Ruth is a trained Restorative Conference Facilitator and in 2008 received Government Funded Professional Leave to explore Restorative Practices in Education and its effective implementation across a school community.  Ruth attended both the 2007 and 2009 Restorative Practices International Conferences and presented at the most recent conference in Canada.  Ruth uses a restorative approach in all aspects of her classroom and trains others to embrace restorative approaches that can easily be implemented in all classroom routines.

 
Restorative Practices in Action – from small conflicts to community conferences
Steve Kearney & Simon Clarke– Caulfield Park Community School
Caulfield Park Community School (CPCS) is a small co-ed alternative school working with students who are at risk of falling out of the education system. Restorative practices are an integral component of building & maintaining relationships within the school community & creating a positive school culture. This workshop will look at the continuum of approaches of RJ at CPCS, the processes in action and addressing & sorting out a significant conflict using RJ to empower victims & perpetrators.

Simon Clarke is the Principal of Caulfield Park and Steve is the Assistant Principal. They have been using restorative practices at Caulfield Park for 5 years.

Chaos to Calm
Susan Buckeridge -  Aldercourt PS, Frankston
Aldercourt P.S., Frankston North, is on a journey of improvement in student social wellbeing, self esteem and resilience. Changes in behaviour management practices have improved student connectedness to school which has led to improvements in learning. Restorative Practices have led these behavioural changes. Respect for one another and explicit rules and responsibilities have changed attitudes. An explicit Social Skills teaching program operates weekly. Literacy and numeracy are paramount. Aldercourt is committed to the improved learning of all students to achieve personal success. A playgroup connects parents to each other in a casual environment. Local groups assist in achieving our aim of connecting the community and providing the best possible school environment. Building relationships with each other, parents, local community, local businesses, local community associations and agencies like Ardoch and the Gould League enriches the school experience further.

Sue has worked in primary Schools since 1976. She has also worked with the Adult Migrant Education Service teaching adolescents with interrupted schooling and adults in workplaces. Sue started at Aldercourt as Assistant Principal, relinquished that position and worked part time there to build the learning support programs at the school, was integral in the changes that have taken place in the school and has returned to the Assistant Principal position  combined with the Primary Welfare Officer position. She is extremely proud of the team effort that has brought Aldercourt PS to the forefront of behaviour management and improved learning.

Teacher Talk: Restorative Practices & Tricky Kids
 Geoff Blair – Positive Outcomes
A practical and theoretical session on the affect of teacher language on the mood of the classroom. The use of circles at the start of the year, semester or topic will set the tone for the class. When teachers and their classes have shared expectations and a clear understanding of how the class will operate it becomes the reference point for when things don’t go well. The primary factor in influencing student achievement is the teacher. When teachers focus on relationships, are concise and consistent with their language, the learning community becomes cohesive and strong. A strong learning community is the greatest gift a teacher/school can provide for kids who struggle and take up so much of student manager’s time.

Geoff was a teacher for over 30 years and has been running RP training sessions for teachers, school leadership teams, parents and students for a number of years. He was a student manager for a number of years and discovered RP when in an almost ‘zero tolerance’ mode. Geoff works with school leadership teams , student management teams and whole staff groups to implement RP. He has mentored teachers and regularly runs conferences with students. In the last 18 months he has begun to focus on teacher language and the impact it has on ‘tricky kids’.

Bumps, Knocks & Potholes on the Restorative Roadway
Adam Broomfield - Clayton South PS
Let’s talk about what goes right and, more importantly, what goes wrong and why when implementing Restorative Practices in schools. I have successfully and unsuccessfully applied RP in both Primary and Secondary settings. I hope people that attend my workshop get a chance to share their stories and leave with some signposts to mark on their road maps.

Adam has been a Teacher, Leading Teacher, Welfare Officer and now is an Assistant Principal.  He has worked in Primary, Secondary and also alternative settings. He has had a number of years experience in the implementation, coordination and delivery of Restorative Practices in Schools.

Challenging the Politics of Punishments& its implications for schools
Debbie Laycock - Centre for Restorative Justice, South Australia
Punishment has long been a political hot potato both within schools and communities on a wider level. We have all heard the cries of “get tough on offenders”.
In this session we will explore

• How  punishment fits into the core business of schools?
• The links between school ‘offenders’ and criminals.
• What does tough really mean?
• Can Restorative Practice combine the accountability of those who have behaved inappropriately with the  process of education.

The Centre for Restorative Justice (SA) is a venture with key collaborators, with beliefs and ideals that hope to bring a balanced approach with respect to the rights and needs of victims of (SA) and has been operating since 1997.
The genesis of the CRJ derived from significant community feeling that different approaches to justice were needed to ensure that current systems did not continue to generate damage and harm.
Debbie took up her role as Restorative Services Coordinator in 2002, after 21 years of policing in the UK

Peer Mediation in Secondary School
Fred Stern  – ConflictSolvers.com au

This workshop presents an overview of peer mediation in secondary schools where the presenter has worked with teachers/students in this program since 1990. What’s worked, what hasn’t? How are other schools using this program? This workshop will be of interest for those thinking of introducing the program or those who have this program in place already.

Fred Stern has been well known in the mediation field for his high profile work in the area of peer mediation in both primary and secondary schools. He has authored a manual, “Mediation in Schools – creating a hassle free environment.” Fred estimates that he has currently trained over 1000 students at both primary and secondary level. Fred’s work with schools has earned  him 2 awards. In 1996 his school program won a “Schools Excellence Award” for the Barwon Region whilst in 1997 his mediation program won a national award as a best practice ‘anti-violence’ program.

 
Restorative Practices & Tribes – Hand in Hand
Terry Spottiswood & Mary Moore – Rolling Hills PS, Mooroolbark

• A brief overview of current teaching group
• Introduction of TRIBES/ training of staff
• Introduction of Restorative Practices – how this fits with student wellbeing, VELS and TRIBES
• Cross-over in terms of language, importance of Community Circles

Rolling Hills is a school in the outer eastern suburbs in the Yarra Ranges. The population is currently 417 and 33 staff.  Staff are committed to developing programs that cater for the individual needs of all students. Our goal is to empower students with the knowledge, skills and resiliency to manage themselves and their place in the world. Our core values, TRIBES agreements and Restorative Practices ensure that student voice is heard and valued. Students are encouraged and expected to take responsibility for their actions and we have consistent language to provide a safe and supportive environment. Terry is the current Principal and Mary is Assistant Principal

Restorative Practices in Schools – A progress report
Glenn Davey - Kyneton SC &  Sandra Hamilton - Loddon Mallee Region

This workshop will briefly describe a systems approach to supporting the implementation of Restorative Practices in schools by the DEECD Loddon Mallee Region. It will feature the restorative practices journey of Kyneton Secondary College, a regional 7-12 college with a student population of 700 students. The Principal will provide a practical and honest account of the challenges and successes in the first 12 months of implementation.

Sandra is the Senior Programs Officer –Restorative Practice & Wellbeing for the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development in the Loddon Mallee Region assisting schools with the implementation of restorative practices. Prior to her appointment in 2008, Sandra held a number of school leadership positions in the areas of student wellbeing and support.

Glenn Davey is Principal of Kyneton Secondary College in the Macedon Ranges area of the Loddon Mallee.  While still a work in progress, Restorative Practices is an ideal fit for the college vision of building positive relationships where students learn to take responsibility for what they do.

 

Copyright 2007
Victorian Association for Restorative Justice, Inc.
ABN: 56 898 041 553