Peacebuilders Schools

“The advice and support I received to develop the buddy training was excellent. The children were made to feel comfortable in the group and each child was valued. They had the opportunity to work through problems and gained a lot of confidence”
Ms M. Lucas, Deputy Head, Abbey Hey Primary School

Peacebuilders is committed to teaching children and young people how to deal with conflict more effectively, in order to reduce bullying and promote more peaceful environments in schools, as well as equipping them with important life skills.

Playground Buddies

Buddies are children from Key Stage 2 who are trained up to provide support to their peers, including: looking out for children who are lonely and playing with them, providing a listening ear, organising games and learning how to stop arguments from escalating.

Peacebuilders has pioneered an exciting and creative training programme to teach selected years 4-6 children to become effective playground buddies. The skills and knowledge taught include:

The training meets many of the requirements of the Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning (SEAL) curriculum. For further details, contact Peacebuilders

Peer Mediation

Mediators are people outside of a conflict who are trained in a specific process to help others who are having a conflict to resolve it. Peer mediators are children or young people who are trained to provide this support to other children. They are unbiased and trained to listen to the stories of everyone involved in the conflict.

Peacebuilders has developed a dynamic training programme to teach selected pupils to become effective peer mediators at Key Stage 2 or Key Stage 3.

The skills and knowledge taught include:

The training meets many of the requirements of the Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning (SEAL) curriculum. For further details, contact Peacebuilders

Restorative Approaches

“Two of our boys vandalised a primary school last week. Conferences were used to bring the boys face-to-face with staff from the school, during which apologies were made and reparation agreed. This is very powerful”

Head teacher, secondary school
Taken from the National Evaluation of the Restorative Justice in Schools Programme 2004

Restorative approaches are about developing a whole school culture that focuses on building positive relationships and repairing those relationships when harm has been caused. Unresolved conflict has repercussions both on individual learning and damages the community as a whole.

A restorative approach is designed to make sure that those involved in a conflict own the solution. The process of asking restorative questions puts the onus for problem solving where it belongs; between the two or more people involved. Restorative Conferencing brings together people who’ve caused harm with others who’ve been affected to work together to find a solution.

We can provide a one-day training course to introduce Restorative Approaches to teachers, and a three-day course in Restorative Conferencing. For further details, contact Peacebuilders

Primary Buddies Toolkit

Visit the Primary Playground Buddies Toolkit website for more information