“At first I thought this was a whole load of crap but after a while it proved very beneficial”
Year 9 student on our training
Our Work In Schools
Mediation in Schools
We love our work in schools and continue to build relationships within the field of education. Young People are smart and receptive when they are authentically engaged with.
Maria was Chair of a KS4 Pupil Referral Unit in Brent for 3 years and during that time along with the Head Teacher over a 2 year period they transformed the school into a restorative school. The outcome was that the students reported that what they liked most about the school was the staff.
Our work has taken us into some of London’s most troubled inner city schools and into one of the world’s top private boarding schools and everything in between. We meet amazing people striving to deliver high quality education with the resources they have available and we also meet tired and stressed out people who are under resourced for the job they need to do. We love being able to contribute and add value wherever we are called to do so.
We are particularly proud of our Restorative Approaches which we call Justice from the Heart which includes a Student Voice Project, Peer Mediation, Community Engagement and the Dialogue Road Map tailored for communicating with young people.
Justice from the Heart through the Student Voice Project
The CPS Student Voice Project is a stakeholder engagement forum which promotes democracy using Dialogue and Facilitation. It has been our experience as practitioners, parents and, in our time, as students ourselves, that student council initiatives have too often proved unable to stimulate such a dialogue.
In keeping with the culture of innovation and excellence that schools so often want to demonstrate, we have designed a structure which empowers students to communicate the issues which concern them as a starting point for a discussion, rather than a creating a list of demands or wants.
- Promotes democracy
- Improves participation in school life
- Demonstrates inclusion
- Builds relationships through dialogue
- Gives voice to ‘needs’ not ‘wants’
- Teaches decision making processes
Student Voice Facilitators at The Wellington Academy
“Maria is like a teacher but without the bad bits”
Year 8 Student
Justice from the Heart through Peer Mediation using the Dialogue Road Map
Peer Mediation is a form of conflict resolution carried out within peer groups, usually in schools. Its aim is to teach children and young people how to resolve conflict compassionately and peacefully.
Pupils are trained in communication skills such as listening, respecting other points of view and demonstrating empathy. The trained peer mediators empower disputants to work together to find solutions that are agreeable to all parties.
Peer Mediation aims to enhance children’s learning and prepare them for coping with conflict wherever they may encounter it.
Conflict arises for many different reasons, in the playground or in the classroom. When conflict arises it is important that everyone feels they have been treated fairly and that the conflict has been resolved to everyone’s satisfaction. Mediation empowers everyone involved to resolve their differences without the need to fight it out. Mediators guide disputants through their conflict to reach agreements that end the dispute peacefully.
Peer Mediation can:
- Reduce the number of exclusions
- Reduce incidents of bullying
- Change repetitive patterns of misbehaviour
- Resolve minor disputes without adult intervention
- Improve behaviour and increase respect
- Address power imbalances with those who are victimised
“This training should be compulsory in all schools”
Year 12 student
Peer Mediation Training with students from 3 schools.
Peer Mediation Students at Sudbury Primary School
Peer Mediation Students at Sudbury Primary School
Community Engagement with the Dialogue Road Map in action
Schools are at the heart of local communities. How a school is perceived by the community impacts on its reputation and its community members. At CPS we work with schools to improve relationships with the local community. Each school is different and the needs vary but our work in repairing relationships includes parents, shopkeepers, neighbours and staff.
“I feel more confident about this school and will offer work experience”
Previously angry local shop manager
Copland School Community Engagement
Justice from the Heart through the Dialogue Road Map
As adults, when we communicate with young people, the responsibility lies with us to shape what we say in order to elicit the best possible response. This is easier said than done in the heat of the moment yet, it is in the heat of the moment or when we feel stressed, that we most need to choose our words more carefully.
The Dialogue Road Map challenges the status quo and invites us to use language which is most likely to engage the other person in a positive response.
We teach the Dialogue Road Map to School Staff and Parents. Workshops vary from a brief introduction at a Twilight session to an Inset Day or a full 2 day training.
Christchurch Primary School Parents coffee morning
Brent Schools Dialogue Road Map Training Day
Brent Schools Dialogue Road Map Training Day