Restorative Practice

At our school, we are committed to building a caring, respectful, and inclusive community. A key part of this is our use of Restorative Practice, an approach that focuses on developing positive relationships and supporting children to learn from their experiences.

Restorative Practice encourages children to take responsibility for their actions, understand how their behaviour affects others, and work together to put things right. Rather than simply focusing on consequences, we guide pupils through meaningful conversations that help them reflect, repair harm, and move forward positively.

When challenges arise, staff support children by asking simple, thoughtful questions such as

• What happened?

• How did this make others feel?

• What can we do to make things right?

These conversations help children to develop important life skills such as empathy, communication, and problem-solving.

This approach is used consistently across the school—in classrooms, on the playground, and during social times—ensuring that all children feel heard, valued, and supported. It also helps to strengthen relationships between pupils, and between pupils and staff.

By using Restorative Practice, we are not only addressing behaviour but also teaching children how to build and maintain positive relationships, preparing them to be respectful and responsible members of our community.

The Six Principles of Nurture

Nurture as a practice means relating to and coaching children and young people to help them form positive relationships, build resilience and improve their social, emotional and mental health and wellbeing. When used in school, nurture improves attendance, behaviour and attainment, and ensures every child is able to learn. A solid understanding of The Six Principles of Nurture is crucial for education professionals looking to implement nurture in their settings. 

Children’s learning is understood developmentally

Children are at different stages of development – socially, emotionally, physically and intellectually – and need to be responded to at their developmental level in each of these areas. Responding to children ‘just as they are’, with a non-judgemental and accepting attitude, will help them to feel safe and secure. 

Social, emotional and behavioural development tools such as the Boxall Profile®, help staff to assess and track a child’s needs and put strategies in place to support positive development.

The classroom offers a safe base

A classroom environment is inviting and nurturing for all. The classroom offers a balance of educational and social, emotional and mental health experiences aimed at supporting the development of children’s relationships with each other and with staff. Adults are reliable and consistent in their approach to children and make the important link between emotional containment and cognitive learning.

Where possible, predictable routines are explained and practised, and there are clear expectations and positive models of how all adults in school relate to children and young people, both in and out of the classroom. Consider whether your setting is a safe place – physically and emotionally – for your pupils, staff, parents and carers. How do you promote structure and predictability? It is also important that your classroom or nurture space has quiet zones and reflections of home. 

The importance of nurture for the development of wellbeing

Nurture involves listening and responding; everything is verbalised with an emphasis on the adults engaging with pupils in reciprocal shared activities. Children respond to being valued and thought about as individuals. In practice this involves noticing and praising small achievements – nothing should be hurried. Provision and strategies should be put in place that promote the welfare and wellbeing of children and young people, as well as staff welfare and wellbeing. Consider how achievements and attainments are celebrated, and what structures are in place to promote the pupils’ voice. 

Language is a vital means of communication

It is important for children and young people to be able to understand and express their thoughts and feelings. It is also crucial for adults to understand the importance of their own language towards children and young people, and how this can impact them. Children often ‘act out’ their feelings as they lack the vocabulary to name how they feel. Informal opportunities for talking and sharing are just as important as more formal lessons teaching language skills. This enables words to be used instead of actions to express feelings, and imaginative play can be used to help children understand the feelings of others. 

It is helpful to provide opportunities for pupils, parents and staff to express their views, and that adults model how to share feelings and experiences. Pupils’ voices should be valued, and language should be assessed, developed and embedded in all aspects of the curriculum at the appropriate level for the child or young person.

Consider how children are taught to recognise emotions and name them in your context. Are they taught to recognise early warning signs of anger or anxiety and use strategies to de-escalate? How do daily routines allow for conversation and sharing of experiences?