Change in culture a winner for students

Suspensions and expulsions have nose-dived at a Christchurch boys' school following a five-year focus on culture change.

In 2006 St Thomas of Canterbury College replaced its pastoral care behaviour management system with a restorative justice programme.

The results, said principal Christine O'Brien, were dramatic.

Three years before the programme's launch in 2003, stand-downs at the Sockburn Catholic school were 60, suspensions 18 and exclusions two.

Last year there were no suspensions or exclusions, and one stand-down O'Brien said had to happen so the pupil could enrol in alternative education. So far this year all figures were zero.

Restorative justice dealt with behaviour issues through conferences with the offender, victim, school staff and police youth aid officer Bruce Ward.

Rather than issuing pupils detentions, stand-downs, suspensions and exclusions, deputy principal Steve Hart said the conferences were focused on finding out "what harm had been done and working together to fix it".

Offenders heard the impact they had on their victim and had the opportunity to put it right, he said.

"We're not judging; it's not about blame, it's not about saying you're a good or bad person, it's about fixing it.

"The boys in these conferences are really baring their souls and that doesn't come easy. They're powerful things to be a part of."

Executing the programme and culture change was not easy, O'Brien said. The process took longer and involved a lot of hard work, but the outcomes were worth it.

One year 13 pupil, who had been beaten by his father all his life, was an underachiever and on the fringe of gang activity, she said.

When his dad left the family, the 17-year-old started hitting his mother and sister.

Police asked the school to deal with it and at a conference the boy broke down, saying he did not want to be like his father.

Following Ward's advice, the pupil did an anger management course, stopped hitting his family and became focused on his studies. He is now in tertiary education.

Ordinarily, Ward said the boy would have been treated as an adult in the justice system. The "why" of his behaviour would not have been dealt with.

"He probably would've been a repeat offender and the cycle would've continued," he said.

O'Brien said most incidents the school dealt with happened out of school time.

"The reality is that nothing that goes on in a student's life is out of school time as it directly impacts on their school time," she said.

"[As a school] we've got to own it. If we exclude them from school, they become the community's problem."

- © Fairfax NZ News