Restorative Practices

The Keewatin-Patricia District School Board (KPDSB) encourages its staff to use restorative practices.  Using restorative practices includes informal and formal processes that proactively build positive relationships in the community to prevent conflicts and wrongdoings.  In the spring, 574 KP staff – including admin assistants, educational assistants, early childhood educators, teachers, and administrators – participated in a restorative practice professional development session.  It was a refresher for some and new learning for others.  The staff reviewed how restorative practices empowered people to take ownership, learn from their choices, understand their impact, resolve disagreements, and develop problem-solving skills.  KP lunch-hour supervisors and bus drivers were provided with the opportunity to participate in a half-day training on restorative practices with a focus on peacefully resolving conflicts when they occur.  Over 65 lunch-hour supervisors and bus drivers took advantage of this opportunity.  Also, all KP staff were provided with two additional workshops; one session was focused on the use of restorative questions and approaches, and the second session was focused on using a trauma-informed approach in restorative circles.  To start the 2021–22 school year, over 550 KP staff members reviewed strategies and practices that create a welcoming, inclusive, and caring school and classroom environment.  The focus was on practices that help create respectful classrooms, develop rapport, establish routines and expectations for positive student behaviour, and manage conflicts.  The staff carefully reviewed the benefits of and the different types of proactive circles and reviewed the restorative practice structure and questions used when things went wrong.  There are several KPDSB staff members trained as restorative practice facilitators.  This year, another handful of leaders across the board took formal restorative practice training through the International Institute for Restorative Practices (IIRP).