Bullies will face victims in a new scheme to be introduced at all Islington secondary schools

Published: 31st December, 2010
by TOM FOOT

BULLIES will be invited to meet their victims face-to-face in the classroom in a bid to reduce school exclusion rates.

Restorative justice – where troublemakers are made to see the error of their ways during supervised “impact” talks with other students and school staff – is to be introduced at all Islington secondary schools. A decision confirming its introduction will be made on January 11 following a successful pilot scheme.

Council chiefs believe the scheme will help school staff “accept conflict as part of life” and wayward schoolchildren “acknowledge the impact of what they have done”.

Traditional punishments – detention, exclusions and expulsion – do nothing to resolve disputes, according to a report from Islington Council’s regeneration and employment scrutiny committee.

Islington has one of the highest rates of permanent exclusions in the country.

The report recommends the scheme be widened to include primary schools so that “preventative work begins at an earlier  stage”.  Training on “handling conflict situations” has begun at Hungerford Primary School.

Cambridge Education Authority – the private firm running Islington’s school – will be in charge of the programme following a pilot launched at two Islington schools in March.

Restorative justice is also being tried in the community with Homes for Islington and the Corporation of London operating schemes for problem tenants.