Thanks to the pioneering work of Dominic Barter and others (in Rio de Janeiro, Sau Paulo and Porto Alegre) there is increasing interest in restorative justice and restorative approaches in Brazil and also in other South American countries.

At the beginning of October 2009 Belinda Hopkins, Transforming Conflict’s director, was invited to run a 3 day training workshop with 80 educationalists during a conference on restorative justice at the University ABC in Sâo Paulo in Brasil. Lode Walgrave, a Belgian academic who is very well-respected in the field of restorative justice was also invited to talk about restorative justice in the criminal justice field.

During the conference UniABC’s own television unit conducted interviews with Belinda and with Lode. These interviews and some footage of the conference have been uploaded to You Tube. The first 3 clips are about Lode Walgrave’s input and the second three are from Belinda’s interview . The interviews are in English with Portuguese sub-titles.

Lode and the conference

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpRUNMbJLg0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8LE6CLssTw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smbtmzpDz9U  (last 15 seconds shows Belinda’s workshop)

Interview with Belinda Hopkins

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GKfwJVcqek

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpDm4kF3aUA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsMfWd9FrmU

Dr Hilary Cremin from Cambridge University lends her support to establishing a restorative school community

http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/news/dp/2009070201

Dr Cremin will be promoting a series of seminars in 2010/2011 exploring the contribution a restorative approach can make in schools.

More news of this venture to follow.

First meeting of the North East Restorative Approaches/Practices Practitioners to be held in Gateshead

Restorative Approaches practitioners working in schools and residential settings in the North East of England plan to have their first network meeting on March 17th between 10am and 1pm at :

Dryden Professional Development Centre
Evistones Road
Gateshead
NE9 5UR

If you plan to attend please let Jeanne Pratt know as soon as possible on (0191) 4338500 or by e-mail at JeannePratt@Gateshead.Gov.uk so she can order enough lunch.

Lewisham Anti-Bullying Guide

The London Borough of Lewisham has published an inspiring anti-bullying guide that is informed throughout by restorative philosophy and practice – from informal interventions in minor cases to full restorative conferences for the most serious of cases:

http://www.lewisham.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/09710847-154F-4661-A33A-11C596D4C5BB

/0/AntiBullyingPolicy.pdf

If this link does not work then click on www.lewisham.gov.uk and type in ‘anti-bullying’ in the Search box.

Iffley Mead School, Oxfordshire in the news

Iffley Mead school, in Oxfordshire, a school for children with complex learning needs, has had the recognition it deserves, with a mention in the national press last week (w/c October 6th 2008) and then headline news in the local Oxford Mail later in the week:

http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/3736038.Restoring_order_to_the_classroom/

Both the Headteacher, Katy Willett, and the Deputy Head, Christine Hatwell , received their training in restorative skills from Transforming Conflict’s director, Belinda Hopkins, working in partnership with Oxfordshire Youth Offending Team’s Nic Brennan, who was then the Restorative Approaches in Schools Co-ordinator. In the 5 years since their training, Kay and Christine have been passionate enthusiasts for this approach , which encourages all members of the school community to take responsibility for their actions and to put things right when they go wrong. As the article shows this has had a transformative influence on their school, where now all staff have been trained and are using a consistent approach across the school, all day, every day.

Christine herself is now also an associate member of Transforming Conflict’s training team, offering, when time permits, training and consultancy for others wanting to develop a restorative approach in settings similar to Iffley Mead. She and Kay are always ready to share their experiences and help others to adapt restorative approaches for settings where the young people have particular learning needs. They may shy away from praise, but Kay and Christine are national experts in this field and Transforming Conflict is proud to have helped them at the outset.

A bit of history

Oxfordshire was one of the first counties to train members of the school staff in restorative approaches, taking part in the pioneering Youth Justice Board-funded initiative between 2002 and 2004. Belinda Hopkins was both consultant and lead trainer in this initiative. The Oxford approach was controversial at the time since elsewhere the preferred model was to train outside facilitators to ‘parachute’ in and run formal conferences, but only for the more serious incidents. This model has now been discredited, as it made very little difference to the school ethos and did not often impact on what remained an essentially punitive behaviour management policy. 

During the two years of the YJB initiative Belinda, with help from Nic Brennan and secondary teacher Nic Bayley, developed what has now become regarded as one of the most effective models of restorative best practice for schools in the world, and her book ‘Just Schools’, written during this period, continues to sell well in the UK and internationally. The evaluation of the YJB initiative can be found on their website.

http://www.yjb.gov.uk/Publications/Scripts/prodView.asp?idProduct=207&eP=YJB

In recent months a fresh impetus for developing restorative approaches in Oxfordshire is emerging and Transforming Conflict is proud to once more be involved in this initiative.

WE ARE GROWING!

Transforming Conflict has now incorporated and is a limited company. We still consider ourselves a company committed to building social capital and promoting social justice, and all our profits are used to improve our service and our message.

We have also moved into bigger, brighter offices at the same address – our beautiful; venue in rural Berkshire to which visitors are always welcome for coffee and to browse our expanding library. Just let us know when you would like to come.
 

THE NATIONAL CHILDREN'S BUREAU ENDORSES RESTORATIVE APPROACHES IN RESIDENTIAL CHILDCARE 

See Residential Child Care page.

Teachers’ TV filmed an event about restorative approaches in schools, hosted by the RSA, earlier this year:

A group of experts look at restorative justice, a practice which brings together the victims and the perpetrators of conflict in order to find an agreed resolution.

The approach has had a clear and positive impact on behaviour where it has been used is schools. Sir Charles Pollard, former chief constable of Thames Valley Police, and Graham Robb, board member of the Youth Justice Board share their experiences of restorative justice to an audience at the RSA.

Mel Stanley, deputy head at Deptford Green School, talks about her experience of restorative justice and Kenny Frederick, headteacher at George Green's School, discusses her school's various approaches to resolving conflict.

http://www.teachers.tv/video/27544

RESTORATIVE PRACTICES IN NEW SCHOOL DISCIPLINE POLICY

At its August 2008 meeting, the Denver Public Schools board approved a new discipline policy that includes restorative interventions.

Read more: http://www.restorativejustice.org/editions/2008/september08/denverschools

Dr Belinda Hopkins has recently written a piece on restorative approaches in residential childcare settings’

http://www.ncb.org.uk/ncercc/ncercc%20practice%20documents/

restorative_approaches_tc_paper.doc

Looking at what day-to-day opportunities there are for introducing the values, principles and skills of a restorative approach into a children’s home, drawing on recent research about what works best for staff and young people, from real case studies and from her team’s extensive experience in such settings.

She presented a workshop at the 2007 annual NCERCC conference in Birmingham on Wednesday November 7th

http://www.networks.nhs.uk/uploads/07/09/ncb_ncercc_november_7_2007.pdf

based on a series of powerpoint slides

For further details of our courses please see our course page.

new report from the Howard League highlights need for restorative approaches in schools

A new report has been written and published by the Howard League for Penal Reform - Children as victims: child-sized crimes in a child-sized world, it focuses on children as victims of crime and how low level crime is perceived and experienced. 

The recommendations in the report are of great interest to us - especially their recommendation of restorative approaches, including conflict resolution education and peer mediation schemes within education establishments. 

Here is a link to the full press release :
http://www.howardleague.org/fileadmin/howard_league/user/pdf/press_2007/

Children_as_victims_survey_10_October_2007.pdf

American Psychological Association Challenges School Zero Tolerance Policies and Recommends Restorative Justice

A report issued by the American Psychological Association (APA) found that zero tolerance policies in use throughout U.S. school districts have not been effective in reducing violence or promoting learning in school. The report called for a change in these policies and indicated a need for alternatives, including restorative practices such as restorative justice conferences.

An article by Doug Graves and Laura Mirsky provides details from the APA report.

To read the article, please go to:
http://www.safersanerschools.org/library/apareport.html

To download the PDF version of the article, please go to:
http://fp.enter.net/restorativepractices/apareport.pdf

A successful restorative meeting

After a recent restorative meeting between a supply teacher and a student following a disruptive incident, the member of staff concerned wrote the following to the facilitator:

‘Thank you for the meeting earlier with Sally Williams*. That was my first experience of this procedure and it proved to be a very positive experience. What I think was very good about it was that I was able to express to Sally how her behaviour had made me feel which is something that does not usually happen. Usually the incident is taken out of our hands ie. Isolation, we just set a detention etc. I could see that Sally was surprised and a little upset when I told her how I felt at the time of the incident and also directly after the incident. Also Sally was able to tell me that she has lots of things on her mind and I was able to understand her personal situation a little better and maybe why she had reacted in such a hostile way. This does not usually happen. The meeting ended on a very positive note and I think both parties really benefited from the experience. ‘

* a fictional name

JOB AVAILABLE - CHILDREN/YOUTH TRAINER IN CONFLICT RESOLUTION AND PEER MEDIATION SKILLS

Lambeth Mediation Service is looking for an experienced trainer in Conflict Resolution and Peer Mediation Skills to develop and deliver training to both children and youths, in and outside of schools in the borough of Lambeth. click here for more info

A restorative anti-bullying policy

Senior Manager Mel Stanley from Deptford Green School (a mixed comprehensive school) in Lewisham has been willing to share their Anti-Bullying Policy. click here for more info

Restorative Approaches to Bullying - breaking the cycle of power and control

Alternatives to punishment for bullying are urgently needed in order to make schools safer for those on the receiving end of bullying and to engage with young people drawn into bullying behaviour. Belinda Hopkins makes the restorative case. click here to view

Director of Transforming Conflict, Belinda Hopkins, has now completed her doctoral research at Reading University on the implementation of restorative approaches in schools 

After nearly six years of part-time study Belinda has now successfully defended her thesis on the implementation of restorative approaches in schools and is now Dr Hopkins. Using a unique synthesis of participatory action research and narrative enquiry which she has termed ‘restorative research methodology’ Belinda has explored in three distinct case studies, the journeys of educationalists as they implement restorative approaches in their schools. The findings are timely and will benefit all those trying to do something similar in their own school or area.

A book on this research will be following in due course but in the meantime if anyone wants to read the thesis please e-mail Belinda on Belinda@transformingconflict.org and she can send you the pdf ‘read only’ version.

NATIONAL DATABASE ON RESTORATIVE Approaches IN SCHOOLS - questionnaires

Please click the link below to fill in the questionnaire for Schools and Agencies.

www.restorativeschoolsurvey.co.uk

TWO SHORT FILMS HAVE BEEN MADE RECENTLY BY THE NEW DIGITAL CHANNEL TEACHERS TV.
The first features Hariet Wall at Drayton School using restorative approaches to deal with issues that arise in classrooms and corridors at her school.

The second is a film of some restorative work done in a school in Twickenham, focusing especially on a conflict between a group of Year 8 girls.

They can be viewed on the teacherstv website: Click here to view the films