CONTROL AND RESTRAINT OF PUPILS POLICY Date of Policy: Drafted October 2004. Ratified by Governors January 2005 Review Date: January 2006 (June 2013) Last Review: Jun 2014 THE FERRERS SCHOOL PURPOSE This policy gives clear guidance to staff and governors on the safe and legal use of restraint in school. It sets out how and when restraint may be used together with the procedures for recording all incidents involving physical restraint. REFERRAL to Section 550A Education Act 1996, Education Act 1997 (revised), also revised in the light of the 2006 Education and Inspection Act. This policy should be read in conjunction with the Behaviour Policy. 1. Introduction A new section of the Education Act 1997 came into effect on 1 st September 1998 to clarify the position about the use of physical force to control or restrain students. Where necessary, reasonable force can be used. Staff need to be aware that their employment imposes upon them a duty of care to students and themselves in order to maintain an acceptable level of safety. Since conduct can on occasions become dangerous, physical intervention may be required which, inevitably, is a high risk activity. These guidelines cannot anticipate every situation: the professional judgement of staff at all times remains critical. It is, however, the intention that the guidance outlined below should offer students and staff a level of protection. 2. Corporal Punishment We are forbidden to use any degree of physical contact which is deliberately intended to punish a student, or which is primarily intended to cause pain or injury or humiliation. That ban applies in all circumstances, and has applied since 1987. 3. The new provision of the 1997 Act This allows teachers, and other persons who are authorised by the Head Teacher to have control or charge of students to use such force as is reasonable in all the circumstances to prevent a student from doing, or continuing to do, any of the following: Committing a criminal offence (including behaving in a way that would be an offence if the student were not under the age of criminal responsibility). Injuring themselves or others. The new section of the Act also covers the situations below, but our school s policy is to send for emergency support and to avoid using force unless there is a real emergency. Causing damage to property (including the student s own property). Engaging in any behaviour prejudicial to maintaining good order and discipline at the school or among any of its students, whether that behaviour occurs in a classroom during a teaching session or elsewhere.
Physical restraint is a form of control which staff are authorised to employ when all other alternatives have failed and staff believe it is their duty of care to intervene and/or where the urgency of the situation does not allow for other methods to be employed. The provision applies when a teacher, or other authorised person, is on the school premises, and when he or she has lawful control or charge of the student concerned elsewhere e.g. on a field trip or other authorised out of school activity. In any particular case, staff should satisfy themselves that the action they are proposing to take would be considered justifiable by the wider audience of their professional colleagues. The use of physical restraint may be questioned by others students, parents and possibly social services or the police. 4. Authorised Staff All staff at this school are allowed by the Act to use reasonable force to constrain or restrain students. All staff should intervene using reasonable force as and when required to do so to ensure the health and safety and well being of all students and staff. Other people are allowed to do so, in the same way as teachers, provided they have been authorised by the Head Teacher to have control or charge of students. These might include classroom assistants, midday supervisors, education welfare officers, or voluntary helpers, including people accompanying students on visits, exchanges or holidays organised by the school. Authorisation may be on a permanent or long-term basis because of the nature of the person s job, or short term for a specific event such as a Col trip. Should authorisation be agreed, the Principal will ensure that those concerned are aware of, and understand, the College s restraint policy. 5. Action in self-defence or in an emergency There are some situations where those without authorisation might find it reasonable to use a degree of force. Everyone has the right to defend themselves against an attack provided they do not use a disproportionate degree of force to do so. In an emergency, for example if a student were in immediate risk of injury or on the point of inflicting injury on someone else, any member of staff would be entitled to intervene. 6. Types of incidents Examples of situations that fall into the above categories include: A student attacks a member of staff, or another student. Students are fighting. A student is causing, or at risk of causing, injury or damage by accident, by rough play, or by misuse of dangerous materials or objects. A student is running in a corridor or on a stairway in a way in which he or she might have or cause an accident likely to injure him or herself or others. A student absconds from a class or tries to leave school. This will only apply if a student could be at risk if not kept in the classroom or at school. 7. Planning for incidents with identified students If the school is aware that a student is likely to behave in a way that may require physical control or restraint, it will plan how to respond if the situation arises. Such planning will address: Managing the student (eg reactive strategies to de-escalate a conflict, holds to be used); Involving the parents to ensure that they are clear about what special action the student might take; Briefing staff to ensure they know exactly what action they should be taking;
Ensuring that additional support can be summoned if appropriate. The Ferrers School has its own written policy on behavioural management, which includes its own regime of rewards and sanctions that seek to maintain safety and good order. 8. Reasonable Force There is no legal definition of reasonable force. It is therefore not possible to set out comprehensively when it is reasonable to use force, or the degree of force that may reasonably be used. It will always depend on all the circumstances of the case (see sections 6, 7 and 8). In using physical restraint, staff will observe the following practice: It will only be employed in the circumstances outlined above. The level of force will be the minimum necessary to restore safety. The duration of the restraint will be the minimum necessary to restore safety. Whether it is reasonable to use force, and the degree of force that could reasonably be employed, might also depend on the age, understanding, and gender and physical ability of the student. D of E updated advice (26/4/12) The legal provisions on school discipline also provide members of staff with the power to use reasonable force to prevent pupils committing an offence, injuring themselves or others, or damaging property, and to maintain good order and discipline in the classroom. Headteachers and authorised school staff may also use such force as is reasonable given the circumstances when conducting a search without consent for knives or weapons, alcohol, illegal drugs, stolen items, tobacco and cigarette papers, fireworks, pornographic images or articles that have been or could be used to commit an offence or cause harm. Force cannot be used to search for items banned under the school rules. 9. Application of Force Physical intervention can take several forms. It might involve staff: Physically interposing between students; Blocking a student s path; Holding; Pushing; Pulling; Leading a student by the hand or arm; Shepherding a student away by placing a hand in the centre of the back; or (in extreme circumstances) using more restrictive holds. Staff should not act in a way that might reasonably be expected to cause injury, for example by: holding a student around the neck, or by the collar, or in any other way that might restrict the student s ability to breathe; slapping, punching or kicking a student; twisting or forcing limbs against a joint; tripping up a student; holding or pulling a student by the hair or ear; holding a student face down on the ground; putting full weight upon the student s spine or abdominal area. Staff should always avoid touching or holding a student in a way that might be considered indecent. During any incident of restraint, adults must seek as far as possible to: warn the student of their intention to restrain as this might prove a deterrent;
lower the student s level of anxiety during the restraint by continually offering verbal reassurance and avoiding generating fear of injury in the student; cause the minimum level of restriction of movement of limbs consistent with the danger of injury (so, for example, will not restrict the movement of the student s legs when they are on the ground unless in an enclosed space where flailing legs are likely to be injured); take account of the danger of accidental injury during the restraint by using a method appropriate for the environment in which it is taking place (for example, on a paved surface the adult should seek to avoid placing the student on the ground); wherever a group of staff are involved, they should consider working together as a team, with one member taking the lead; not to employ another student to assist in a restraint episode. 10. Risk Evaluation In order that the restraint of a student should calm the situation, and not lead to greater injury or an escalation of violence, the following factors need to be taken into account in evaluating the risks involved and in determining the techniques to be employed on any particular occasion: The age and relative physiques and known medical conditions of both the adult restrainer and the student. The restrainer s capacity to act calmly. The relative genders of staff and the student. The presence of a second staff member (or other adult), available to assist, supervise and become involved in the intervention. The scope to secure the presence of a second member of staff (or further adults). Spectacles, hearing aids, jewellery and clothing being worn by the student. The location of the incident and the potential for the restraint to be carried out safely. The student s previous experience of restraint and their predicted reactions. The presence of any weapons. 11. Recording Incidents It is important that there is a detailed written report of any occasion where force is used. It may help prevent any misunderstanding or misrepresentation of the incident, and it will be helpful should there be a complaint. The report must include: details of when and where the incident took place (a sketch plan should be included); circumstances and significant factors which led to the incident, details of the student s behaviour, what was said by each of the parties, the steps taken to defuse or calm the situation; the reason that force was necessary (e.g. to prevent injury to the student, another student or a member of staff), the degree of force used, how it was applied, and for how long; the names of students and staff involved and all witnesses; witness statements where appropriate (including staff/students involved); a description of any injury sustained by students or staff and subsequent medical attention; a description of any damage to property; a description of any action taken after the incident (including parental contact) 12. Management Considerations All incidents involving the physical restraint of students will be discussed as soon as possible with a senior member of staff, and the Principal will be involved as soon as practicable thereafter. The effect of the incident on the student and staff should be monitored. Consideration should be given to the possibility that a student who is disturbed may deliberately provoke confrontation as a means of seeking attention and testing the boundaries set by the College. Consideration should be given to alternative ways of responding to the student s needs that avoid the use of restraint in the future
Appropriate support should be provided for staff. All staff will be provided with basic personal safety and training, and these procedures will be incorporated into the staff handbook and included as part of induction.5 13. Complaints If a complaint resulted in a disciplinary hearing, or a criminal prosecution, or in a civil action brought by student or parents, it would be for the disciplinary panel or the court to decide whether the use and degree of force was reasonable in all the circumstances. In that event, the panel or court would have regard to the new provisions of the 1997 Act. It would also be likely to take account of the school s policy on restraint, whether that had been followed, and the need to prevent injury, damage, or disruption, in considering all the circumstances of the case. For further information Staff are welcome to read Circular 10/98 section 550A of the 1996 Education Act on The Use of Force to Control or Restrain Pupils and DfE s Use of Reasonable Force document re Section 93, Education and Inspections Act 2006. Linked Policies Behaviour Policy Health and Safety Policy Drugs Education Policy Signed: Chair of Governors Date: