This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
Listen
'Restorative practices' for school disruption
12/01/2004
A new scheme to make unruly pupils and
bullies face up to their disruptive behaviour was announced
today.
Restorative practice pilots in North
Lanarkshire, Highland and Fife are aimed at
helping disruptive pupils take responsibility for their
actions, understand the consequences of their behaviour and
apologise to others.
Staff will be trained to help pupils
use negotiation and mediation techniques themselves and
schools will involve parents wherever appropriate.
Launching the scheme at Duncan Forbes
Primary School near Inverness, which will be using peer
mediation techniques as part of the Highland pilot,
Education Minister Peter Peacock said:
"Restorative practice has been used
successfully in the USA and Europe, including other parts
of the UK.
It has been found to reduce exclusions,
tackle bullying and motivate disaffected pupils.
"Making pupils take responsibility for
their actions helps put them back on the right track.
It also involves them in improving the
learning environment - creating schools where everyone
wants to be.
"Today's announcement is part of an
ongoing strategic approach to improving discipline.
Last week I announced that behaviour
co-ordinator pilots would be rolled out across Scotland.
These new pilots show we are actively
pursuing an agenda of constantly finding additional ways to
support our teachers, recognising that there is no single
answer to the problem of disruptive pupils.
"Pupils and teachers have the right to
work free from disruption.
Bad behaviour by a small minority threatens
that right.
That is why I have made tackling
indiscipline a top priority and restorative practice adds
to a range of measures I have put in place."
Examples of restorative practices
which might be used in the pilot areas include:
Peer Mediation
In cases of bullying or a dispute between pupils, a
trained pupil mediator helps the parties involved in the
dispute to agree what has happened, what harm has been done
and what can be done to put things right. The
emphasis is on apologising, putting the difficulty in the
past and agreeing a way forward.
Adult Mediation
In cases of serious disputes between pupils, pupils
and teachers, or parents and teachers, a trained adult
facilitator (usually a member of school staff not involved
in the dispute) hears from both sides what has happened and
reaches agreement with them about what has gone wrong, what
harm has been done and what can be done to put things
right. The emphasis is on apologising, putting the
difficulty in the past and agreeing a way forward.
Restorative Conferencing
In cases of ongoing disputes, a trained facilitator
involves all parties in a formal conference to agree a
solution in which the wrongdoer acknowledges the impact of
their actions and apologises to those affected. All
parties agree a strategy to put the difficulty behind them.
This practice could be used either to avoid
exclusion or as part of re-integration following exclusion.
Restorative practice has been used
successfully in the justice system for some time.
Last week, Minister for Justice Cathy
Jamieson announced that the number of places for young
offenders on restorative justice projects would be doubled
in the next two years.
It has been used in schools in the USA
and Europe.
Several English local authorities have
adopted the approach and it has been found to reduce
exclusions, resolve bullying issues and increase the
commitment of pupils and parents to school.
North Lanarkshire, Highland and Fife
Councils have now been chosen to pilot restorative practice
in Scottish schools.
In North Lanarkshire it will be implemented
across the authority, in Highland it will be used in ten
schools, and in Fife it will be used to focus on school
exclusions.
Funding of £150,000 will be provided by the
Executive to the pilot areas and further funding will be
made available to roll out the programme if it proves
successful.
Other measures implemented by the
Executive to improve discipline include:
The end of targets to reduce
exclusions and new guidelines on exclusions that
put the rights of the majority who want to learn
before the rights of the minority who disrupt
Good practice seminars for
headteachers
Specialist working groups on
behaviour - one to look at behaviour in playgrounds
and communal areas, one to look at strengthening
the role of parents
A review of teacher training
to ensure teachers are properly equipped to deal
with behaviour problems
£500,000 to allow councils
to train behaviour co-ordinators and implement
staged intervention
Councils receive £10 million a year to implement
the recommendations of the Discipline Task Group and
£11 million a year to fund alternatives to
exclusion.