Core Components

Learning Together is a universally delivered, school-based intervention designed to address aggression and bullying in young people aged 11-16 years. The programme involves the collaborative efforts of students and staff in learning about and implementing bullying and aggression prevention practices. This is with the goal of reducing bullying and aggression related health risks, improving health and wellbeing, and reducing health inequalities.

Learning Together applies three approaches:

• A whole-school approach to ensure overall school policies and systems are modified. This approach aims to enhance student engagement with school as a social determinant of health. To support this approach, the school creates an action group consisting of 1) six or seven staff (including senior leadership team, teaching staff, pastoral staff, and other support staff); 2) six or seven students (from different year groups and should include those at risk of disengagement); and 3) an external facilitator to provide support to the action group. The action group receive the Learning Together programme manual, and they use this manual to guide action group meetings which are held twice every term (total of six times a year). The meetings are held with the purpose of revising school policies and practices and ensuring that programme implementation is appropriate for students. Responses from an initial survey (conducted to assess student needs) are summarised in a needs assessment report (NAR), and this is used to inform the action group decisions.
• Restorative practices for conflict prevention and conflict resolution between students, as well as between staff and students. Restorative practices can be primary or secondary. Primary restorative practices involve the use of restorative language by all staff in classroom management and through the use of circle time during lessons. It requires the use of respectful language to challenge or support behaviours. Primary practices aim to build relationships and prevent conflict and bullying. Secondary restorative practices involve restorative conferences to address incidents of bullying or other forms of conflicts. This practice requires the victim to communicate the harmful effect of the perpetrators’ behaviour, and requires the perpetrator to acknowledge the harm done, and change their behaviour to prevent further harm.
• Delivery of a social and emotional curriculum in a positive classroom environment. This is with the purpose of preventing social, emotional and behavioural difficulties, and enhancing positive development. The curriculum consists of six units namely 1) classroom connections (a required unit); 2) belonging- exploring ways of belonging; 3) what if? - managing anxiety; 4) ups and downs; 5) trust- understanding of trusting relationships; and 6) expectations. The NAR can be used to determine which units (outside of the required unit) are delivered. The curriculum is typically delivered in five to ten lesson hours per school year. Implementation of the curriculum in trial schools was poor, as was staff’s ratings of it. Hence this curriculum was unlikely to be an active ingredient in programme impacts and scale up of this element is not recommended.

Fidelity

Programme fidelity is evaluated using the following measures:

1. Attendance of in-depth training by a minimum of five members of staff
2. Completion of six action group meetings per school year
3. Termly review of school policies and systems
4. Implementation of actions decided during action group meetings
5. Members of action group assessed as good or very good
6. Members of action group assessing the group as well led or very well led
7. At least 85% of staff report responding to trouble in school by talking to parties involved in order to resolve conflict

Modifiable Components

Local programme delivery is tailored to school needs as assessed by the initial student survey. Hence school priorities, actions implemented, and curriculum units delivered (outside the required unit) are guided by the needs assessment report (NAR).

Support for Organisation / Practice

L30 Restorative Systems UK provides programme training, and an independent consultant provides external facilitation.

Implementation Support

Learning Together programme developers can arrange implementation support for programme implementation in schools. Programme developers can help schools arrange external facilitation with an independent consultant, and arrange restorative practice training for school staff. Programme materials (e.g. student questionnaire, fidelity monitoring tools) are provided at no cost to the schools.

Licence Requirements

There are no licence requirements for programme delivery.

Start-up Costs

The Learning Together programme implementation package costs about £15,000 per school, subject to support needed by the school. This package includes training, consultation, curriculum guidance, and access to network of schools interested in supporting students’ emotional wellbeing.  To reduce costs associated with programme delivery, virtual attendance of action group meetings by external facilitators can be arranged.

Building Staff Competency

Qualifications Required

All school staff are involved in the whole school approach to delivering Learning Together. School staff in the action group include senior leadership team, teaching staff, pastoral staff, and other support staff. External facilitation is provided by an external practitioner with experience of school management / transformation. Restorative practices are typically delivered by staff with key role in discipline, e.g. teachers with lead responsibility for year group, head of pastoral care, or lead on behaviour management. Lastly the social and emotional education component of the programme is delivered by teachers.

Training Requirements

All school staff receive a 2 -3-hour restorative practice awareness training delivered at the implementing site. This training covers an introduction to the Learning Together programme and the basics of restorative practices. Subsequently, five to ten staff (who will be actively involved in restorative practices) receive in-depth restorative practice training. The 3-day in-depth training is informed by the NAR and is delivered prior to the staff leading restorative practice sessions.

Supervision Requirements

The external facilitator supports the action group by providing coaching via attendance of action groups and offering advice before and after action group meetings.

Theory of Change

Learning Together programme inputs (including restorative practices training, student surveys, and action group meetings) result in the development and implementation of processes and actions that aim to enhance school practices and ethos. These practices and ethos are expected to create a school environment that is more student centred, engaging, respectful, responsive, supportive and safe. Within this improved school environment, it is expected that students’ learning engagement would be increased, student connection with school community improved, life skills developed, positive relationships formed, and healthier choices made. These are expected to translate to better student outcomes including reduced bullying, aggression and conflict behaviours; improved mental health, emotional health, and quality of life; and reduced risky behaviours. 

Learning Together is a universally delivered, school-based intervention designed to address aggression and bullying in young people aged 11-16 years. The programme applies three approaches to achieving its goal; 1) a whole-school approach; 2) restorative practice training; and 3) delivery of social and emotional curriculum to students. These practices and ethos are expected to create a school environment that is more student centred, engaging, respectful, responsive, supportive and safe.

• Does this approach align with the key values of your organisation?

Priorities

Learning Together aims to reduce bullying and aggression in young people, with goal of reducing bullying and aggression related health risks, improving health and wellbeing in young people, and reducing health inequalities. The programme involves the collaborative efforts of students and staff within the school.

• Is your service looking to deliver a universal bullying and aggression prevention programme for schools?
• Is your service looking to deliver an intervention which aims to improve health and wellbeing, and reducing health inequalities?

Existing Initiatives

• Does your organisation have existing programmes designed to reduce bullying and aggression in young people?
• Are there components addressed by Learning Together that are not met by existing programmes?
• Are the existing initiatives effective?
• Do the existing initiatives fit your current and anticipated future requirements?

Workforce

All school staff are involved in the whole school approach to delivering Learning Together. School staff receive 2-3 hours of basic training to support programme delivery. A 3-day in-depth restorative practices training is subsequently delivered to the five to ten staff who will lead restorative practice sessions. The social and emotional curriculum is delivered by teachers. External facilitation is provided by an independent consultant.

• Are your school staff interested in learning and adopting the approaches to delivering this programme?
• Can your organisation implement a programme that needs external facilitation to support programme delivery?

Technology Support

None

Administrative Support

Learning Together is a school-based programme that adopts a whole school approach to delivery and requires delivery of restorative practices for conflict prevention and resolution.

• Can your organisation support a whole school approach to programme delivery?
• Does your organisation have administrative capacity and systems to support the programme approaches?

Financial Support

The Learning Together programme implementation package costs about £15,000 per school, subject to support needed by the school.

• Can implementation costs be financially supported?

Comparable Population

Learning Together is a universally delivered school-based intervention designed to reduce bullying and aggression related health risks, improve health and wellbeing, and reduce health inequalities in young people aged 11-16 years. Evidence of effectiveness comes from one internally conducted cluster randomised controlled study, that included 7,121 students aged 11-15 years (mean baseline age of 12 years). The students were recruited from 40 secondary schools in South-East England. Included schools were mixed and single sex schools, and had ethnically diverse students (including White British, Asian/ Asian British, Black/Black British, Chinese/ Chinese British, mixed ethnicities, and other ethnicities).

• Is this comparable to the population your organisation would like to serve?

Desired Outcome

Learning Together aims to reduce bullying and aggression in young people, with goal of reducing bullying and aggression related health risks, improving health and wellbeing in young people, and reducing health inequalities. Programme delivery is associated with improvements across several outcomes including significantly improved overall quality of life, mental wellbeing, and psychological functioning; significantly reduced bullying scores; and significantly reduced risk of regular smoking, alcohol use, illicit drug contact, and police contact.

• Is delivering a programme designed to reduce bullying and aggression in young people, for the purpose of improving health and wellbeing a priority for your organisation?
• Does your organisation have other initiatives in place that effectively and efficiency address the above outcomes?