Restorative Practice at CBC St Kilda is a strategy that endeavours to open the lines of communication between various members of the community in situations where there may be damage to relationships. This includes instances where bullying may have occurred.
The process seeks to give voice to those who have been hurt, create accountability for those who may have acted in a detrimental way, and most importantly, provide a learning experience for all parties in the best way to manage, repair and continue in the process of relationship building.
The process of restorative practice looks to focus on the actions of individuals, the impacts actions have and the ways to restore trust in relationships - how to ‘make things right’. In the spirit of personal responsibility, forgiveness and commitment to positive future behaviour, all parties express their acceptance of the proposed solutions and discuss what can be done to prevent a recurrence of what has transpired.
As a researched field, restorative practices lead to healthier interpersonal relations among members of the College community and more effective learning.
Restorative practices are undertaken at CBC in a variety of forums. It may be conducted with varying degrees of formality and may include just those students most directly involved in situations or in some circumstances a wider group. ‘Community Conferences’ include supportive third parties such as friends, mentors and possibly family members. At CBC students successfully engage in restorative sessions with both other students and members of College staff.
Restorative Practice is not consequence. It is part of a process of engaging in positive behaviour as an outcome of negative behaviour. Often students may agree on other consequences of their actions as part of the process. These are discussed in a context of the student looking to positively contribute to the CBC community.
Restorative Practices are an important component of the CBC ‘Learning Always’ philosophy.
