Circles

We believe democracy cannot be taught as a set of rights and responsibilities. Democracy has to be practiced in all aspects of school life, ranging from the way students are encouraged to care for each other, the way teachers care for students, the way rules are made and enforced, and how decisions are made.

The children at Kaleide International School are deeply involved in creating and maintaining the social structures by which the school functions. This involves rule-making and dispute resolution through the mechanism of whole school meetings and small meetings. Our children also take ownership of their learning by making decisions on what to learn, how they want to learn it, when and with whom. In small groups and with the aid of facilitators, they lay a plan for their learning journey, set intentions for each day, prioritise some actions over others, design timelines, and reflect on their learning process.

The Meeting system is a safe structure and process for dispute resolution, reflective dialogue, learning conversations, community discussion, awareness and democracy in action. It encourages children's ability to question, ask, challenge, compromise and negotiate both with their peers and the adults who support them.

Depending on the child's group (Siroccos, Alisios or Zephyrs) circles will be compulsory or not.

Welcome circle ("Keybu")

This daily circle involves introducing proposals and reviewing the schedule for the day. We believe it's important for the children to verbalise their intentions in a group:

• because intentions become a commitment when they are communicated;

• because it's easier for our pedagogical team to support the continuity of certain activities when they know about them;

• because the intentions of any of the children, when shared with the whole group, can inspire other members of the community;

• because when intentions are shared it's easier to find others to join in or collaborate in an activity.

We use a board to make the schedule and keep it in a prominent place so people can check in throughout the day or week to see what's happening. If there are external expert visits, outings or recurring activities that will be happening at a set time, we put these onto the board before the circle starts so other more flexible activities can be planned around them. In this way we:

• set intentions for the day (according to what was actually done the previous day);

• support connection among children and facilitators in a smaller, safe, comfortable setting;

• create space for facilitators to support children with documentation of their learning, and with tools like Kanban boards.

Agreements circle

The Agreements circle takes place weekly. It is an essential part of the democratic process at Kaleide International School, and underpins the functioning of the entire school. At this meeting we reflect on any proposals to change school rules and agreements.

Restorative circle

In this circle we try to find solutions to any conflicts that we have not been able to resolve through other means, using a no-blame and restorative justice perspective.