After working with restorative practice in the UK, I firmly believe it is an excellent approach to use in education and in life.

Furthermore, if you work in a school, you can ask the other teachers you work with about names to help you learn. Drawing on his many years’ experience working with schools, social services and local governments across the country, Mark shares all you need to know about what restorative practice is, how it works, where to start and the many benefits of embedding a relational approach into any educational organisation that genuinely has people at its heart. Being a senior leader at a School is not easy especially if you’re not willing to adapt to new things. This book contains simple explanations and advice for those starting out on a restorative journey; and for those who have more experience it offers a chance to reflect on your own practice. Chapter by chapter the book conveys, with great clarity, both an underlying approach and a series of methods to enact that approach, within ourselves, with our children, our colleagues and across our organisations.If you’re looking for a challenging and entertaining speaker who can take everyone’s brain for a walk in way that genuinely transforms all aspects of school life, then Mark Finnis is the perfect fit. We must involve people in decisions that affect them, listen actively to one another, be empathic, and deal with conflicts and tensions in a way that seeks to repair harm and sustain relationships. High support and low challenge– the FOR box, is where a teacher does things for students, turning a page because a student is on the wrong page. Mark worked with us to introduce the concept of Restorative Practices to a multi-disciplinary and sometimes sceptical audience.

Carlie has also facilitated a variety of mediation referrals for the Police, Corporate sector, Housing Associations and Charity Sector as well as complaints for the Local Authority and in-house as a HR process. When we say “challenge”, it’s about setting limits, outlining boundaries, defining expectations and explaining consequences. Tiffany has over 15 years experience of working with children, young people and families, first working as a teaching assistant and then training as a Primary School Teacher Tiffany discovered the positive change that could be achieved when staff and children were encouraged to work ‘with’ each other, to create a positive learning environments and relationships based on high challenge and high support. This positively impacts on attendance, attainment, reducing exclusions and transforming a school culture.Having people leave your presence feeling better than when they arrived is one thing, but what about helping people feel better just by coming through the door? From creating ‘circles’ to foster collaborative approaches to actually living your school values, not just displaying them (remember, if your values are on a lanyard around your neck, they’re probably not your values) to dealing effectively with conflict, there are so many facets to Restorative Practice as shared by Mark. Firstly, it will make asking a student to do something a lot easier, and secondly, it shows you care. Mark is a natural speaker and this is not confined to just the stage, but into his innovative work alongside organisations nationally and internationally.