Oaklands School is a Restorative School and we use Restorative chats and Restorative Conversations regularly to solve conflict.

Restorative Chats are used to resolve minor disagreements where both parties are in agreement about what happened and want to resolve the problem. Restorative Conversations are used for major disputes or minor disputes that have been ongoing.  

To illustrate the difference between these two strategies lets look at the examples below:

Restorative Chat

Joe and Mary (Not their real names)  had a minor disagreement about using the slide in the junior playground. Mary said Joe was pushing in front of her and not letting her have a turn. Joe thought Mary was not in the line.  The duty teacher asked the students the following questions:

What happened? (This allows both students to hear what happened from the other students perspective)

How did that make you feel? (Helps students to identify feels and build empathy for others)

What have you thought about since?

How can we fix things? (Students are part of the solution as well as the problem)

When the chat was over the students put their plan into action and the teacher monitored the students for the rest of the break to ensure the relationship has been repaired. 

Restorative Conversation

Anna and Lee (Not their real names) have been friends for a long time.  Anna has developed a new friendship with Jenny and is playing with her a lot at break times.  Lee is feeling left out and at lunch time today things came to a head and Lee said some mean things to both Anna and Jenny and pushed Jenny against the wall.

The duty teacher spoke to all of the girls and recorded their story.  Anna, Jenny and Lee completed a thinking spot form and responded to the same questions as above (for the restorative chat).  The girls were ready to reach agreement about what happened and were calm and ready to repair the relationship (this may not happen the same day as the incident) so a restorative conversation was held.  A teacher facilitated the conversation and went through the questions and responses and asked clarifying questions when needed.  The teacher supported the girls to put together an action plan and recorded this information on a Restorative Form.  The girls signed the form when they all agreed to the Action Plan and a copy of the form is sent home. A review date is agreed and the teacher monitors that the agreement is being followed.

Students who get to red on the traffic light in class have a restorative conversation with the teacher before rejoining the classroom programme. After reaching red the teacher directs the student to the thinking spot in class and the student completes a thinking spot form (with the questions outlined above) and waits for the teacher to signal that it is time to have the restorative conversation. Together, the teacher and student develop a plan to support the student to do the right thing and the student remains on yellow for the rest of the day so they can be monitored and supported.

Both Restorative Chats and Restorative Conversations rely on all students involved being in agreement and willing to repair the relationships.