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    The Anti-Bullying Alliance is a coalition of organisations and individuals that are united against bullying.

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    United Against Bullying (UAB) Programme

  • Tools & information
    • What is bullying?
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    Tools & information

    In this section, you will find links to all things bullying including the definition of bullying, research, our online CPD training and lot more about preventing, recording and responding to bullying of children and young people.

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    Prevalence and impact of bullying

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    Anti-Bullying Week

    The Anti-Bullying Alliance (ABA) is the official organiser of Anti-Bullying Week and Odd Socks Day in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Anti-Bullying Week 2025 will take place from 10th to 14th November, with the theme: Power for Good.

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    Our purpose at ABA is to unite against bullying. Please get involved - in any way you can - to support us.

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What is restorative practice?

Restorative practice is a way of working with conflict that puts the focus on repairing the harm that has been done. It is an approach to conflict resolution that includes all of the parties involved.

This page explores what restorative practice is and gives examples of its implementation. 

An introduction to restorative approaches:

Remote video URL

Video by Resolve Consultants 

What do young people say about restorative approaches?:

Remote video URL

Video by Restorative Thinking

Case study: Restorative Thinking Limited:

The following information has been written by Restorative Thinking Limited - a social enterprise providing innovative restorative justice/practice prevention and intervention programmes, training, consultation, wrap-around support and evaluation with Primary and Secondary Schools, Children’s Centres, Youth Justice Services and Criminal Justice Services (Prisons, Probation Services) and Police and Crime Commissioners.

Restorative practice and ways of thinking are now developing and growing in many primary and secondary schools. Experience and evidence at local and national levels has shown that restorative processes have a positive impact in changing school cultures, especially with regard to attendance and behaviour, when embedded in a wider restorative milieu, and within clear school improvement strategies.

Equally, school improvement strategies are enhanced by the use of restorative processes, not least through the fundamental drive of restorative work to build relationships and community amongst the adults and not just the pupils. Restorative processes also make challenge and support explicit in everything that happens in a school. This explicit challenge and support drives and underpins real change in a school. This consistency is something that is often absent from schools that are struggling to meet expected outcome targets around behaviour, achievement and attendance.

A school making a conscious decision to become restorative also opens a door to a new mindset and culture shift. It focuses on positive relationships and collaborative teaching and learning, with classrooms developing as communities. It means that teachers and pupils commit to looking at positive alternatives to reactive punitive behaviour solutions (e.g. exclusions), because they are confident that the matter is being dealt with in a clear and explicit way, understood and endorsed by all.

Restorative practice is a proactive way of working WITH people, not doing things TO them, not doing things FOR them and NOT being neglectful and doing nothing at all (Wachtel and McCold, 2001, p.117). They seek to increase the opportunities for dialogue at every level.

Goldsmiths University research (2010) into anti-bullying strategies listed the conditions required to develop effective restorative practice in schools. To paraphrase them, these are:

  • whole staff training
  • the embedding of restorative practices, with students
  • making restorative practices transparent in policies and procedures
  • having direct sanctions to back up if the restorative process fails

Restorative Thinking Limited (RT) worked with six schools in Liverpool, 2015-2017, to implement whole school restorative practice. Each of the six schools identified a restorative practice guiding team to lead the pilot alongside the RT team. RT training and consultation with all six schools was needs-based and each school developed its own individual ‘road map’ for the two year pilot and beyond. This project was funded by the Families’ Strategic Group, Liverpool City Council.

This film shows how the pilot developed at the Academy of Saint Francis of Assisi, where SLT, teachers, support staff, pupils and parents worked alongside Restorative Thinking Limited to develop a whole school restorative approach. Restorative practice continues to strengthen day-to-day relationships and to support teaching and learning in addition to the school’s behaviour strategy. 

Remote video URL
Remote video URL

Find out more about Restorative Thinking here.

Access our 'Restorative Thinking and Positive Relationships: preventing and managing conflict' tool here.

Resources for download

Restorative thinking school - toolkit sample
Restorative thinking leaflet
Restorative practice and respect - Restorative thinking tool for schools
Changes Starts With Restorative Approaches

External Resources

Use of Restorative Justice and Restorative Practices at School: A Systematic Li…

2021

The Use and Effectiveness of AntiBullying Strategies in Schools

A report published by the Department for Education gave whole-school restorative approaches the highest rating of effectiveness at preventing bullying, with a survey of schools showing 97% rated restorative approaches as effective.

Restorative Approaches in Schools: Bristol RAiS Evaluation

An independent evaluation of restorative justice in Bristol schools found that restorative justice improved school attendance and reduced exclusion rates.

Restorative Justice Council

Practice in Schools

Restorative Thinking

The Restorative Thinking Limited curriculum based toolkits for primary and secondary schools equip children with the skills and language to find solutions to every day conflicts and to reflect more on their own behaviour.

Restorative Approaches in Schools in the UK

University of Cambridge research project

Tools & information

  • What is bullying?
  • All about bullying
    • A whole-school and setting approach
    • At-risk groups
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    • Early years
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    • Online bullying
    • Prevalence and Impact
    • Preventing bullying
    • Reporting and recording bullying
    • Responding to bullying
      • A social model approach
      • ABA’s 3-step Response to Bullying Tool
      • Circle Time
      • Non-sanction based approaches
      • Understanding children who bully others
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        • What is restorative practice?
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    • Sexual and sexist bullying
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  • Free CPD online training
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You may also like

Restorative practice - dispelling the myths

The short guide 'Changes Starts With... Restorative Practice' aims to provide schools with more information about what restorative practice is and to dispel some of the myths about restorative practice in response to bullying incidence.

More

Restorative practice and choosing respect

How can restorative practice help teachers and pupils to choose a respectful, considered approach to conflict resolution and anti-bullying? Restorative Thinking have written this resource to help schools.

More
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