First Peacemaker Award!

18th December 2014

On 18 December 2014, Mrs Helen Floyd, the School Chaplain at Oaklands Catholic School and Sixth Form College in Waterlooville, Hampshire was presented with the Peacemaker Award Certificate for her work on reconciliation between students at the school. This is the very first such award to be made in England. Anna Lubelska, the Founder and Coordinator of the Peaceful Schools Movement presented Mrs Floyd with the Peacemaker Award Certificate. The school is delighted that Mrs Floyd has been recognised for the thoughtful and loving work that she has been doing for five years to help hundreds of students to make peace with one another. She equips them with the insights, understanding, experience and skills to be peacemakers within the school and in the world. Extraordinarily inspiring! She is a true peacemaker.

Reconciliation at Oaklands School, as developed by Helen Floyd, combines conflict resolution/mediation strategies, communication and listening skills, bringing the parties together in a calm, spiritual environment combined with prayer. One student wrote about how the reconciliation process worked for her: 'At first I felt hurt and as if I had ditched and thrown my friends away. I was crying every night. I wanted to apologise but I thought I was correct in this situation and now I realise I wasn’t. It’s not about winning a game as there is no game to play. Friendship is important in life. After being left alone together to sort things out, Mrs Floyd let us reflect and leave our mistakes behind in a stone which we placed on the table below the Lord’s toes. Now I feel relieved that I have my friend back. I am glad we have made up and left all the bad memories behind.’