Restorative Practice Lead in Bolton

Join our Safety & Welfare Team and become a driving force for positive change. As our Restorative Practice Lead, you’ll champion restorative, trauma‑informed and compassion‑focused approaches that shape the heartbeat of our school community. You’ll inspire a culture where relationships thrive, belonging is strengthened, and every student feels seen, valued and supported. Working closely with students, families and staff, you’ll play a pivotal role in repairing relationships, resolving conflict, and boosting attendance and engagement. Your work will help students successfully reintegrate after periods of absence, suspension or crisis ensuring they return to an environment that believes in their potential. Through powerful relational practice, you’ll help create an emotionally safe, nurturing learning environment where behaviour is understood in context and students are guided to take meaningful responsibility for their actions. You’ll uphold high expectations with compassion, consistency and clear boundaries, helping every young person move forward with confidence.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead Restorative Practice: Facilitate restorative conversations and conferences, repair relationships after conflict, and embed restorative language and approaches across the school.
• Boost Attendance & Belonging: Support students affected by SEMH, trauma or anxiety; lead reintegration meetings; work with families to remove barriers; contribute to early‑help strategies that reduce persistent absence.
• Resolve Peer Conflict: Mediate disagreements, rebuild friendships, and deliver group and 1:1 interventions that strengthen empathy, communication and emotional literacy.
• Champion Trauma‑Informed Practice: Model compassionate, trauma‑aware approaches; help staff understand behaviour through trauma and neurodiversity; maintain high expectations with empathy and consistency.
• Lead Reintegration & Reduce Risk: Coordinate reintegration after suspension, crisis or prolonged absence; contribute to behaviour and risk plans; reduce repeat incidents; support post‑incident reviews and restorative debriefs.
• Shape Whole‑School Culture: Embed restorative and trauma‑informed values across all staff and student activities, ensuring a safe, inclusive learning environment.

Person Specification

Essential Criteria

• Qualifications & Training: GCSE English and Maths (Grade 4/C or above, or equivalent). Relevant Level 3 qualification (e.g. Education, Probation Work, Youth Work, mental health, Social Care) or equivalent experience in a specialist setting. Training in: Restorative Practice (e.g. IIRP or equivalent). Trauma‑informed practice. Safeguarding and child protection (Level 2 or above). Positive behaviour support / de‑escalation approaches (e.g. Team Teach or equivalent).
• Experience: Working with children or young people with SEMH and/or SEND needs. Managing and de‑escalating challenging behaviour in a relational way. Facilitating restorative conversations, mediation or conflict resolution (including peer conflict). Supporting pupils with attendance difficulties, including emotionally based school avoidance (EBSA). Working with families in a supportive, solution‑focused way. Contributing to reintegration following suspension, exclusion, or prolonged absence. Working within multi‑disciplinary teams (e.g. education, therapeutic, safeguarding, external agencies).
• Knowledge & Understanding: Strong understanding of trauma‑informed practice and its application in schools. Understanding of attachment theory and how early experiences impact behaviour and relationships. Knowledge of SEMH and SEND needs, including autism, ADHD and communication differences. Understanding of restorative practice principles (repair, accountability, relationship, and reintegration). Awareness of compassion‑focused approaches and how these support emotional regulation and shame reduction. Understanding of safeguarding, professional boundaries, and risk management in education settings. Understanding of attendance barriers, including anxiety, trauma and neuro‑diversity‑related need.
• Skills & Abilities: Ability to build trusting, consistent relationships with highly vulnerable pupils. Highly skilled in de‑escalation, emotional co‑regulation and conflict resolution. Ability to hold clear, calm and consistent professional boundaries while remaining relational and compassionate. Strong facilitation skills for restorative conversations, peer mediation and reintegration meetings. Ability to communicate effectively with pupils, staff, parents/carers and external agencies. Ability to write clear, accurate records, reports and restorative summaries. Ability to analyse patterns in behaviour, attendance and conflict to inform early intervention. Ability to work independently and manage emotionally complex situations. Full driving licence and vehicle available for work purposes.
• Personal Qualities: Calm, emotionally regulated and resilient under pressure. Compassionate, empathetic and non‑judgemental. Firm but fair; able to maintain high expectations alongside relational support. Reflective practitioner with a commitment to continual professional development. Strong belief in inclusion, second chances and relational repair. Able to hold professional boundaries while maintaining warmth and connection. Consistent, reliable and trustworthy in approach. Committed to improving outcomes for vulnerable learners.

Desirable Criteria

• Training in trauma‑informed schools approaches or compassion‑focused practice.
• Experience in specialist SEMH or Alternative Provision school settings.
• Experience supporting young people at risk of exclusion or placement breakdown.
• Training in therapeutic approaches such as Thrive, CFT‑informed practice or attachment‑based interventions.
• Experience delivering group interventions (e.g. conflict resolution, social skills, emotional regulation).
• Experience contributing to risk management plans or behaviour support planning.

Raise Education & Wellbeing School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expects all staff to share this commitment. All appointments are subject to an enhanced DBS check and all post holders must comply with the school’s safer recruitment and safeguarding policies. The duties and responsibilities outlined in this job description are indicative and not exhaustive. The post holder may be required to undertake other tasks and duties reasonably requested by management to meet the needs of the organisation. This job description will be reviewed periodically and may be amended in consultation with the post holder.