Challenging” behaviours include asking tough questions, sharing responsibility, giving honest feedback and agreeing shared goals.

I was hooked from the first thoughts to the final thoughts, and I will carry this book with me to remind me that there is always another way: a relational way. Sarah has been a Restorative Practitioner for 10 years and has worked across a wide variety of settings, agencies and communities. Also use this same model for discussing behaviour you like instead of ‘I’m pleased with you’ or ‘I’m proud of you’, try ‘When you worked hard on that piece of work it left me feeling very pleased and I’m really looking forward to that behaviour continuing’.

So much of it resonates with my values, beliefs and experience across nearly thirty years working in education that I feel it is a book I might have written myself… and I am secretly a bit annoyed that he got there first! In this book Mark Finnis guides the reader through restorative practice with clarity, insight, real-life examples and clear direction. The value of strong relationships underpins every chapter, empowering educators to build trust and reciprocity across their school community. Ensure you are professional at work, put effort in and work hard, your students will be able to tell. But I suggest that neither the quality of the teaching nor of the learning can exceed the quality of the relationship between the teacher and the learner.

It challenges the idea of one size fits all behaviour approaches; and it challenges us to reflect honestly on our own behaviours and language when we are working in schools. Following working in custodial settings Carlie has worked in Local Authorities since 2007 gaining a wealth of experience as a Service Manager designing and creating in-house Family Group Conference Services including recruitment, training and audits, managing Troubled Families Programmes, safeguarding and Serious Case Reviews.

For anyone working with children and young people, and who believe in the power of relationships, this is the book you have to read. Furthermore, this book is not just for teachers – because restorative practice is not just for schools. There are still consequences for poor behaviour, but the focus is on finding a resolution to understand the impact, meet people’s needs and move things forwards. Firstly, it will make asking a student to do something a lot easier, and secondly, it shows you care.

L30 was founded by Mark Finnis, author of the bestseller Restorative Practice, who has been working with schools for a number of years to embed Restorative and Relational Practice. Mark Finnis is an Independent Thinking Associate and one of the UK's leading exponents of restorative practice. Covering coaching circles and the power of doing things with (and not to) children and young people, to moving your values off lanyards and posters and into the lived experience of every member of the school community, this book sets out how restorative practice – when done well – can transform every aspect of school life.

But he is also down to earth, human and full of humour and sensitivity in the way he explains to us how we can help people to resolve conflict, listen, understand and empathise. If someone pays you a compliment you’d them to be specific about what they like instead of saying ‘I like you’. For far too long the education world has needed a thorough, authentic and expert guide to restorative practice, written by someone who really knows their stuff – and here it is! I often think that when I am reactive, it is emotional and not thought-through; when I am responsive, it is regulated and thought-through. When Carlie isn’t exploring all things restorative she is an ace Mum (and a CBeebies connoisseur) and is a sport addict!

Drawing on his many years' experience working with schools, social services and local governments across the country, Mark shares all you need to know about what restorative practice is, how it works, where to start and the many benefits of embedding a relational approach into any educational organisation that genuinely has people at its heart. Chapter by chapter the book conveys, with great clarity, both an underlying approach and a series of methods to enact that approach, within ourselves, with our children, our colleagues and across our organisations. I am sure that few teachers would disagree that the relationships they have with their students matter, but I know that many feel they do not have the time to invest in them thanks to the stresses of our results-focused system, our crowded classrooms and our overcrowded curriculum. Encourages teachers to embrace challenge and change, and suggests ways to provide a model for their pupils to develop independence and resilience.Mike has a particular interest in the development of restorative approaches in early help services, children’s safeguarding social work and services for children who are looked after. It works for children, young people and families in a wide variety of contexts and settings, with young and old, with peers and colleagues, and in our work as leaders and managers.