Case Studies

• Greengate Lane Primary School, Sheffield
• East Hill Secondary School

East Hill Secondary School

The Beginnings

East Hill Secondary School works with youth with moderate and severe learning difficulties. The school learned about the CRESST training and was very eager to try and address many of the conflicts that arise between students during the day, particularly during the break times and playground activities.

According to Melanie Turner, teacher and PSHE coordinator, "Pupils struggle with resolving conflicts and problem solving, but this isn’t a reason to give up and not help them learn these important life skills."

All the staff at East Hill was eager to explore the CRESST training for themselves as well as for pupils in order to address some of the conflict issues that arise in school.

The Training

A series of workshops and training was arranged with the school

• Staff training on Conflict Resolution Education
• Staff Training on Peer Mediation
• CRE and Peer Mediation training for 20 students

The results

14 students are now on the rota to deliver peer mediation during outdoor time, for the 120 students at East Hill. There are ten more students already volunteering for the next training.

For the past four or five weeks, peer mediators at East Hill have donned their bright red fleece jackets and watched for conflicts they may be able to help resolve.  All staff agree that fewer conflicts come to their attention than before.  Peer mediators are skilled in playing a role in successfully resolving conflicts that used to end up in offices of staff such as deputy head teacher Clive Rockliff

Some mediators expressed concern that this role would eat into their play time, but according to the East Hill Peer Mediator mentor, Tina Shirazi it is these same students that eagerly sign up for the next rota. This is in part due to East Hill's full support for the programme, the confidence and pride evident in the peer mediators, and the praise they get for their contribution

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Greengate Lane Primary School, Sheffield

The beginnings

The school was committed to a whole school approach and made sure that all stakeholders were aware and supportive of the activities.

CRESST and the staff at Greengate Lane worked together to identify a programme of activity that would address the problem and provide sustainable workable solutions.

This involved CRESST running their Conflict Resolution Education (CRE) programme, and training peer mediators to run a mediation service in school.

The training

A series of workshops and training sessions were run which included:

• CRE sessions with Y5 and 6
• Staff training on CRE
• Lunchtime supervisor training on CRE
• Peer Mediation training for Y5 and Y6

In the initial phase:

• 60 Children undertook the initial CRE training
• 40 Children undertook the Peer Mediation Training

The results

The Peer Mediation service is ongoing at Greengate Lane, and has become a permanent feature, with students in Y5 being trained to take on the Peer Mediation when they become Y6 students.

There are 10 active volunteers running the Peer Mediation service at any one time. The service is available to the 171 students of Greengate Lane, everyday. The 10 trained volunteers work in pairs on a rota basis, 1 pair per day.

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