Conexus Conflict Consultancy

News

News

Conexus Travels to India (2023)

Conexus is proud to be working with Inventure Academy in Bangalore, India, to help them further develop their commitment to working relationally and restoratively. Terence has been invited to work on-site with students, faculty and parents in February and November 2023.


Conexus Director co-chairs Inquiry into Restorative Practice in Education, Health and Social Care Settings (2022)

Through 2022, Conexus Director, Terence Bevington, worked as co-chair of the Restorative Justice All-Party Parliamentary Group to conduct an inquiry into the use of Restorative Practice in Education, Health and Social Care settings. The inquiry report was finally published in September 2023. This visual summary of the Education findings has been created by the talented Sam James.

Please contact Terence if you are interested in attending any of the dissemination events planned for the coming months around the UK.


Doctor Terence Bevington (2020)

The founder and Director of Conexus has been awarded his PhD by the University of Cambridge. Terence’s study - an application of the Everyday Peace in School Indicators methodology in four UK secondary schools - was praised by his examiners for its high ambition, methodical execution and multiple possible applications. In their report the examiners remarked, “Importantly, and what separates this thesis from many others, the thesis opens up avenues for practical application.” Terence is now engaging in disseminating the fascinating findings from the study so that other schools might make use of this beautifully simple approach to making the ideal of peace real. If you are interested in knowing more, get in touch.


RESTORE our Schools (2020)

Conexus has been working collaboratively with a collective of respected and esteemed restorative colleagues from around the UK. Our shared mission has been to co-create meaningful and useful resources to help schools plan for when they come back together after the lockdown. This genuinely collaborative piece of work has been inspiring and humbling.

The early responses to the RESTORE resource have been overwhelmingly positive, commenting on its timeliness and usefulness, and that it addresses staff needs as well as children’s. Please take a look and feel free to share.

www.restoreourschools.com


Conexus Director facilitates a Summer Book Club (2020)

Conexus Director, Terence Bevington, facilitated a Summer Book Club with Cambridge Peace and Education Research Group.  The focus of the reading group was to explore whether and how restorative practice in schools can contribute to broader and deeper social justice questions. It has been argued theoretically that restorative practice in schools is part of a broader social justice movement. In the USA in particular, research into restorative practice in schools focuses on questions such as disproportionality and the school-to-prison pipeline. In the UK and in other countries, however, restorative practice in schools is typically framed in terms of behaviour management or school culture. Making use of one theoretical paper and one empirical paper, this reading group explored whether and how restorative practice in schools contributes to building positive peace and social justice. 


Conexus invited to run second Train the Trainer programme with Gloucestershire County Council (2019)

Conexus’ Train the Trainer programme is going from strength to strength. Having successfully run the programme with one cohort in 2018, we have now been invited to train up another 12 Gloucestershire educators - headteachers, SENCos , partner agencies - to build the increasingly impressive Gloucestershire County Council restorative offer to schools.


Conexus wins contract with the Royal London Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (2018)

Conexus has been awarded a contract to deliver restorative training with Kensington and Chelsea. This project will provide training with follow-up support and development for a variety of local authority and community agencies. The project also includes a school-based element working with secondary school staff and students to develop their conflict competence. 


 Conexus wins Train the Trainer contract with Gloucestershire County Council (2018)

Building on the successful delivery of our Train the Trainer programme with Hackney Borough Council and with Leicester City and Leicestershire County Councils, Conexus is delighted to be working with selected staff from across Gloucestershire Children and Young People's Directorate to develop a body of competent and confident restorative trainers. Exciting times ahead. 


Conexus attends Turkey-UK Conference on Peace Education (2018)

Terence was invited to contribute to an international conference exploring the role of peace education in building civic society. Academics and practitioners from Turkey, the UK and Korea came together to share and learn. Our hosts, the University of Kocaeli were the epitome of hospitality.

The book, Positive Peace in Schools, and Terence's work on evaluation of peace in school settings were enthusiastically welcomed by fellow participants. There are exciting plans for future collaboration too.


Conexus awarded the RJC Training Provider Quality Mark (2018)

Conexus is extremely pleased to have had its work as a high-quality training organisation recognised and validated through the Restorative Justice Council's Training Provider Quality Mark process. The RJC process required us to provide evidence of - among other things - how we assess and meet learners' needs, how we assess learning within courses and how we support individuals and organisations post-training. Whilst the achievement of the Quality Mark is valuable, the rigorous process of assessment and observation was equally valuable to us as a training organisation that is prides itself on being fresh, meaningful and relevant.


Conexus awarded tender with Cambridgeshire County Council (2017)

Conexus has been successful in its bid with Tom Mellor of Creative Conflict Approaches to provide training and development in restorative approaches and conflict transformation to its hub of multi-agency professionals working with young people in or on the edge of local authority care. 

Tom is a valued and widely experienced colleague and this - Conexus' first official collaboration - promises to be a high-quality learning experience for all. The restorative training and development work sits within Cambridgeshire's broader 'No Wrong Door' approach.