At Topirum Primary School we use Restorative Practices in the form of conducting restorative chats. This is a whole school approach to supporting students to resolve conflict and restore relationships.

Restorative chats occur when behaviour expectations have not been met. They focus on building, maintaining and restoring relationships between students, teachers and school community members. Restorative chats help students develop empathy for how their actions affect others, make plans for future interactions and contributes to the improvement of learning outcomes.​ 

Benefits of Restorative Chats

At TPS we use restorative chats to promote:

• Active listening
• Demonstrate positive language and tone
• Refrain from judging or blaming
• Promote self-awareness and accountability for the student
• Fair and transparent process
• Ensure we have a future plan or action
• Consider and implement consequences that are fair and representative of the action
• Value the importance of restoring and repairing damaged relationships
• Show empathy and be respectful in interactions
• Separate the child from the behaviour
• View inappropriate behaviours as opportunities for learning
• Promote student voice and the ability to work together to resolve the problem

Ways we can support restorative chats:

• Positive classroom management strategies
• Circle time
• Clearly defined values and behavioural expectations
• Established school wide consequences