Leeds : towards a restorative city

Leeds is a large city in the north of England. Over the past five years, the city has had a bold ambition to be the best city for children to grow up in. That is articulated in the aspiration to be a child friendly city. An important aspect of this ambition is that in Children's Services and now across the council, we have introduced the concept of restorative practice - a focus on high support and high challenge. This paper explores the journey of how this was introduced to Leeds and outlines some of the success we have seen.