Our inner city primary school in a large capital city has 282 students comprising a diverse population of 4% Aboriginal, and 29% of students have a language background other than English. Families are from differing socio-economic backgrounds and the community is dynamic and involved.

Where It Began... Our school had a Student Welfare Policy based more on rewards and punishments rather than acknowledgement and consequences for choices made. Students were very competitive but needed to develop a real sense of cooperation on a whole school basis.

Only a few students entered competitions and the students were reluctant to take risks with their learning.

The community was very involved but some groups needed to be encouraged to come to the school more as an integral part of a valued inclusive learning community.

Getting Started... By taking all staff, parents and students through a reflective process of what we did well, what we could do differently and what we would find to be the hardest challenges, we hoped to achieve the following via our visioning process.

• To promote a feeling of wellbeing in our school through a whole school approach to the building of respectful relationships and social capital.
• To promote values and empower individuals through a restorative practices philosophy which has at its core doing things 'with' students as underpinning teaching and learning and other proactive programs. Open-ended questions led to accountability and personal empowerment. Questions focused on: What happened? What harm has resulted? and What needs to happen to make things right?
• To promote an inclusive, resilient school and classroom environment characterised by fair and firm processes, initiative, engagement, connectedness, caring and belonging, relevance and safety.

The practice draws on the research of:

• Prof John Braithwaite, Brenda Morrison, Donald Nathanson and Terry O'Connell on restorative practices and empowerment of the individual.
• Dr Christine Richmond on language, Dr Helen McGrath, Martin Seligman and Andrew Fuller on promoting optimism, well-being and resilience.
• Alfi Kohn and Louise Porter on strategies that promote intrinsic motivation.

How We Went About It...

• All stakeholders were trained in the philosophy underpinning restorative practices. The positive change in culture has been taking place over the past three years.
• A whole school approach to the implementation of the Bounce Back program by Helen McGrath has enhanced our restorative philosophy. Our school is involved in a cluster project with four other schools to work on an action research project looking at the 10 aspects of the program: Core Values, Elasticity, People Bouncing Back, Courage, Looking on the Bright Side, Emotions, Relationships, Humour, Bullying and Being Successful.
• Other inclusive circle programs include Help Increase Peace (HIP), A Partnership Encouraging Effective Learning (APEEL) a social skills program for students and parents K-2 and Seasons for Growth for children suffering grief and/or loss.
• Promotion of the school's programs through leadership opportunities, peer-based workshops with older students co-facilitating groups in buddies and restorative practices and newsletters, posters and other visuals displayed around the school ensure the foundations of this philosophy are continually reinforced.

What We Are Learning... Our practice has been evaluated during the cycle of school improvement and includes qualitative and quantitative data.

• Parents and students have indicated a positive response to the program through surveys, questionnaires and focus groups and attendance at school functions. A respectful, listening climate was cultivated. As a result personal accountability for actions has occurred and students have been empowerment to 'make things right'.
• Student suspension rates were higher at the start of the program but have now dropped dramatically to nil in the past 2 terms.
• Data on the student engagement matrix indicate a more motivated and engaged student population.
• Student attendance rates are excellent and have particularly improved amongst our Indigenous students.
• A higher participation rate of students in events such as swimming carnivals, where previously only the 'elite' entered.
• Staff feel more confident, valued and supported as they see the positive results of this collegial approach to teaching and learning and relationship-building through firm, consistent and fair processes.
• Wonderful attendance rates by parents and friends at assemblies and other school events indicate a community that feels included and valued.

What's Next... Having recently attended the international conference on Restorative Practices and Family Empowerment, I was enthused by the growth of restorative practices in the past 10 years. We will continue the journey in restorative practices. An expert in the field, Terry O'Connell (who has been at the forefront of these practices around the world) will train the staff in our 5 cluster schools which are already undergoing the Bounce Back action research project.

Training for parents and children in each school individually will complete the whole school approach.

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