Teach Primary Issue 19.6

ASK THE EXPERT “It’s time to talk safer handing” DougMelia, director of Safer Handling International, on navigating training, terminology and implementing appropriate strategies to protect pupils and staff EXPERT PROFILE NAME: Doug Melia JOB TITLE: Director of Safer Handling International AREA OF EXPERTISE: Reasonable force To train or not to train? In line with department guidance, it is the headteacher’s duty to ensure all staff understand their power to use reasonable force. This shouldn’t mean reactive training after harm has occurred, sending injured staff off on a local authority course. Schools need a proactive, whole-school approach. That includes regular incident debriefs, sharing of ‘near misses’, and performing a training needs analysis. This identifies which staff need support, what type, and why – creating a culture of confidence, accountability, and skill, not silence and blame. What’s in a name? Whether it’s called ‘positive handling’, ‘safer handling’, ‘therapeutic holding’, ‘teamteach’ or ‘crisis intervention’, it all refers to the use of reasonable force. There is no regulatory body for physical intervention training, and the Department for Education and Ofsted do not recommend specific providers. The choice – and the liability – rests with the headteacher. What matters is not the label, but whether the training is evidence-informed, risk- assessed and tailored to the specific needs of your setting; not because they’re available for your INSET day or who boasts the lowest price. What training do we need? Training should be effective, but some approaches are too reliant on physical skills. In schools there are alternatives to floor holds in the form of Safetypods or even containment. There are still providers teaching planned single-person holds (inconsistent with manual handling regs) and others deny the reality that these incidents do happen and fail to prepare staff with skills that work should they need to physically intervene. Strategies should be scaled to the size and needs of your pupils – especially in early years – and the physical capability of staff who are smaller in stature expected to manage larger children. Training should prepare staff for real-life scenarios, including safe disengagement skills like bite and grip releases that actually work. It must promote alternatives and teach staff to critically assess where physical intervention helps, and where it is either not appropriate, ineffective or inflammatory. Does containment work? Preventing exits from site or to restricted areas for those too vulnerable to be allowed to leave (generally younger children although this would apply to older SEN pupils), creating barriers, restricting access or locking a door, although contentious, may be a safer way of handling a child in crisis than staff placing hands. Seclusion can never be used as a punishment, also pupils don’t necessarily need to be confined to a certain room, as concentric layers of corridors, yards and open spaces should be considered in line with distraction and withdrawal strategies when dynamically assessing risk.When planned, risk-assessed and monitored appropriately, containment can reduce harm, escalation and intrusion. A blanket ban on seclusion can ironically lead to more holds, more upset and therefore more trauma. Schools should prioritise not just safe spaces, but consider safe faces – switching out to trusted staff who can better support children’s self-regulation in times of crisis. ASK ME ABOUT STAFF TRAINING on our online learning platform and face-to-face sessions to promote understanding of their powers and duties BESPOKE AUDITS and policy reviews to improve how incidents, near misses and restrictive practices are handled and recorded SUPPORT FOR LEADERS to embed safer handling into school culture Visit: safer-handling.co.uk Email: info@safer-handling.co.uk Phone:: +44 0330023 5636 www.teachwire.net | 75 PARTNER CONT ENT