Our Restorative Approach

Restorative Approach

Selly Oak Trust School takes a restorative justice approach to supporting behaviour management and creating a respectful culture that promotes building positive relationships with all members of the school community. We have developed a range of restorative approach methods and strategies to prevent relationship-damaging incidents from happening and to resolve them if they do happen.

Key features to our restorative approach include staff meeting and greeting all students with a positive welcome when they arrive in school and providing learners the opportunity to discuss any concerns or worries before the school day begins. Each day during morning form time all learners are actively encouraged to take part in circle-time discussions and status check-ins, again providing all students a voice to share how they are feeling and to develop respect for others by listening to others opinions and learning to value them.

Restorative Conferences have a great impact on our school community with all students been given the opportunity to take responsibility for their actions and to gain understanding of their impact on other members of the school community.

Restorative Centre

The Restorative centre is a specifically designed portacabin, and a place of reflection and calm. The staff work with students, within a classroom sized environment, which is zoned into: communal area, small sensory area, working area and social area. There is an outdoor garden with gym equipment for students to use.

Students access the centre for many reasons, and for different periods of time. Students that are dysregulated access the centre for support to enable them to restore emotional regulation and integrate back into lessons. Some students access the centre for restorative meetings and conferences with others, some use it for daily ‘check-ins’ and ’check-outs’. There is no set time period that students are in the centre, as the aim is to return to the classroom as soon as the student is ready to.

In the social area, the students and staff eat lunch together as part of improving their social skills, lunch is provided by the school kitchen, and is always chosen by the students. Some students will access the centre regularly, and some very infrequently.

A.R.T Programmes

A.R.T (Alternative Response Training)

The A.R.T programme is currently delivered to all year 8 students, developing their skills to deal with anger in a clean way. Their moral reasoning is developed and they gain the pro-social skills required to communicate effectively both in the classroom and with their peers.

To support our learners’ personal development skills we provide a range of intervention programmes that are aimed at responding and supporting the personalised needs of each student referred. Our broad range of intervention programmes alongside the A.R.T programmes include Friendship groups, Body Confidence programmes and 1:1 focused mentoring support.