Effective Parenting Through Restorative Practice: A Workshop Dear Parents/Guardians; The Restorative Practice session on March 27 was so well received by the participants that we have decided to have an “encore presentation” for those unable to attend that evening. Stan Baker, who gave the previous presentation, will be at Dr. MacGillivray P.S. on Tuesday, April 29, beginning at 7 p.m. The workshop is an introduction to Restorative Practice, which seeks to foster healthy behaviours and stronger relationships. This is best achieved when teachers, students and parents learn to engage with one another in restorative ways. The teachers and students of our school have already been introduced to Restorative Practice and this evening’s presentation will present it to parents. It is increasingly being shown that schools around the world are safer, more able to successfully address issues like bullying, and experience improved student achievement when they embrace restorative practices. The workshop will make these connections. Many parents who have attended this Restorative Practice Workshop at other schools have said afterwards that this really is a workshop on how to build and strengthen skills in effective parenting. This presentation not only shares how restorative practices will be happening at our school, but focuses on how you as parents can use restorative thinking and practices in dealing with your children. “How can I challenge my children in ways that will help them think about their behaviour and still feel o.k. about themselves and me afterwards?” “How can our children learn to take responsibility, be accountable and make things right when things go wrong?” These are some of the questions we will be discussing in the workshop. Benefits for parents attending the workshop: • Likely to experience consistent and fair interactions with school • More involvement in your children’s school lives and connection with school community • Restorative strategies that can help you have a better relationship with your children • Greater capacity to deal with relationship issues between children and others • Opportunity for learning and personal growth Some comment from parents who have attended previous workshops: • You don’t need a survey to find out how effective Restorative Practice has been. I can tell you it changed my life. • Thank you for making sure that we were part of this new way of working with children. • Can you run another workshop so my husband can come? • I wish I learnt about this when I first had kids. I see it can really help in parenting. • I am excited to think that our teachers are working with our children in this way. Although we would like all parents to attend, we realise this can be difficult for some families; so one representative from the family could pass on the information. Please complete the form below and return to school to indicate your family’s representation on the night. P. Hιbert, Vice-Principal Dr. G. J. MacGillivray P.S. …………...……………………………………………………………………………………………………………… We will be attending the Restorative Practice Parent workshop on Tuesday, April 29 at 7 p.m. Name of parents attending: _________________________________________________________ Parent signature: ________________________________ Our child(ren) is/are in the following class(es):