Sarah leads the Care & Guidance aspect of the secondary school and, together with colleagues in Primary, she works to ensure that all students at BISB feel safe, cared for, and empowered to fix the inevitable mistakes they make as they grow up towards adulthood.
First of all Sarah introduced the participants to the history and roots of Restorative Practice, which is the foundation for the BISB Care & Guidance programme. She explained that the BISB approach is based on systems in the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand which seek to replace traditional, punitive Youth Justice courts with community-based problem-solving. She then worked through our school's Five Questions, which all teachers use to help BISB children understand the mistakes they have made and the negative impact their poor choices have had on other people. The outcome is always that the children identify and take steps both to 'put it right' and to avoid making similar mistakes in future. After some entertaining role-plays, which showed how it feels for a child to be supported by a restorative approach, Sarah outlined the process that takes place in school each time a child is involved in a behaviour incident, demonstrating how it develops the IB Learner Profile attributes of being principled, caring, and reflective in children. She encouraged parents to try similar processes at home.
If you would like more information on Restorative Practice, or BISB's own restorative approach, please contact Sarah Ford at sarah.ford@bisb.hu">sarah.ford@bisb.hu.