Rhondda Cynon Taf Council in south Wales is seeking to employ a ‘justice tsar’ to help tackle the growing problem of bullying and antisocial behaviour in schools. The Council is looking for a restorative justice coordinator to work on an established programme aimed at cutting the number of times schools have to call in the police.

The project started in March 2003, as a year-long pilot. Operated by the authority’s youth offending service, the idea behind the scheme is to prevent children from slipping out of the school system and into crime. A council spokesperson said: “It has several aims, one of which is to encourage schools to take a restorative approach to resolving conflicts. Another is to resolve issues at a school level before they could escalate into the criminal justice system. He added, “Aggressive behaviour, including bullying, has been identified by research as the most prevalent risk factor for youth crime.”

The scheme used techniques, he added “to enhance young people’s understanding of their behaviour upon their victims. The work undertaken includes mediation between students who have had arguments and fights, group work with classes which have a lot of conflict issues, individual support for victims of bullying and also self-awareness with those who at times bully others.”

RCT council is keen to roll out the restorative justice programme in all schools across the borough. A recent inspection of youth offending teams applauded it as a success, saying: “This innovative project gave schools excellent support in behaviour management, specifically in encouraging pupils to accept responsibility for their actions and the harm done and to repair relationships and the damage caused.”

It also said the teams helped schools manage children and young people’s disputes and behaviour and “helped them resolve issues and learn to get on better with others”.