RRN welcomes new Scottish Guidance on Restraint in Schools

Today, the Scottish Government published ‘Included, Engaged and Involved – a relationships and rights-based approach to physical intervention in Scottish schools’

The RRN welcomes the new guidance as a much-needed positive step. Scotland is the first nation in the UK to review and update guidance on the use of restraint in schools, with a clear focus on children’s human rights.

Restraint and seclusion cause distress and trauma, undermine dignity and leave children and young people vulnerable, where they should be safe and supported. We know that children with additional needs are more likely to experience restraint than others, and improved guidance is needed across the UK to help schools and teachers respond to each individual pupils’ needs, ensuring a consistent, human-rights based approach.

The guidance published in Scotland today includes many positive elements; the emphasis on preventative approaches that avoid distress in clear contrast to behaviour-management led approaches in schools. Where incidents involving restraint do occur, the guidance makes clear the need for post incident support and debriefing to take place, with post-incident debriefing helping children and teachers to recover and learn from incidents, and in turn reduce restrictive practices.

The guidance further states the need to consider staff training and ensure any training involving a restrictive component is certified as complying with the Restraint Reduction Network Training Standards. While training is only one part of reducing restrictive practices, ensuring schools procure training that prioritises prevention and de-escalation and the rights of the child are essential in reinforcing the importance of rights-based practice.

The further guidance on time-bound reporting, stating parents and carers must be notified within 24 hours of an incident and the education authority within two working days are clear, common-sense requirements.

However, despite the many commendable aspects to the guidance, the RRN is concerned that guidance remains non statutory, limiting its potential to create positive change. Furthermore, there remains work to be done to ensure guidance fully meets the terms of the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), which was incorporated into Scottish law at the beginning of the year.

Beth Morrison, RRN Trustee said:

“Today is a positive step for children in Scotland, but there is still more to be done to protect children and young people from the misuse of restraint and seclusion in schools. It is essential that protections for children are made legally binding to help ensure that children are safe and supported at school.

While today’s publication is a much-needed improvement on previous guidance, the decision not to mandate the new Scottish guidance leaves children at risk. We are hopeful that Daniel Johnson MSP’s Members’ Bill to bring Calum’s Law into legislation will provide an avenue for statutory guidance to be realised in the near future.”