Positive Handling and Physical Intervention

1. Purpose

Our aim is that physical intervention is almost never needed. Calm adults, strong relationships, predictable routines and the four Rs in policy 07 prevent most situations from reaching crisis.

When a young person is at risk of seriously hurting themselves or someone else, staff may need to act physically to keep everyone safe. This policy makes sure that any intervention is lawful, safe, proportionate and properly recorded, that the learner and staff are looked after, and that we learn from every incident.

2. Scope

This policy applies to all learners at Care Cove AP, whoever commissions the place, and to all Care Cove staff, agency and partner staff, sessional tutors and volunteers, wherever AP activity takes place: on site, off site, on work placements and on transport we arrange.

3. Law and guidance

• Section 93 Education and Inspections Act 2006 gives members of staff at schools a legal power to use reasonable force to prevent a pupil committing an offence, causing personal injury or damage to property, or disrupting good order and discipline. Care Cove AP is not a school, so our staff do not hold this statutory power. We follow the DfE guidance as good practice, but our own test is narrower than section 93: we never use force to keep order or discipline (section 5).

• Our staff, like anyone, may use reasonable force under the general law to protect themselves or others from harm and to prevent a crime (including section 3 Criminal Law Act 1967). Care Cove also owes every learner a duty of care, which can mean acting to prevent serious harm. Force must be no more than is reasonable in the circumstances. Force that goes beyond this can lead to criminal, civil or disciplinary action, which is why this policy sets clear limits.

• Use of Reasonable Force in Schools (DfE): force must be reasonable in the circumstances, meaning no more than is needed; it must never be used as a punishment; and suspension must not be an automatic response when a member of staff is accused of using excessive force.

• Reducing the Need for Restraint and Restrictive Intervention (DfE and Department of Health and Social Care, 2019), which we follow as good practice for learners with SEND and mental health needs.

• Keeping Children Safe in Education 2026; Working Together to Safeguard Children 2023; Sheffield Children's Safeguarding Partnership procedures.

• Equality Act 2010 and the SEND Code of Practice 0 to 25 (2015).

• Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974; RIDDOR 2013.

4. Roles and responsibilities

5. Our position

At Care Cove:

• De-escalation comes first, every time. Staff use the learner's plan and Team Teach de-escalation: calm voice, space, few words, choices, distraction, a change of adult, and a way out without losing face.

• Physical intervention is a last resort, used only when other approaches have failed or there is no time to try them.

• It must be reasonable and proportionate to the risk, using the least restrictive approach that will work.

• It lasts for the shortest time possible. Staff release or reduce the hold as soon as the risk reduces.

• It is never used as a punishment, to make a learner comply with an instruction, to enforce a rule, to move a learner who is not putting anyone at risk, to take a phone or any other item, to carry out a search, or to stop a learner leaving unless leaving would put them at immediate risk of serious harm.

Physical intervention may be considered only to:

1. prevent a learner from hurting themselves, including self-harm;

2. prevent a learner from hurting another person;

3. prevent a criminal offence, such as an assault;

4. prevent serious damage to property where the damage itself creates a risk of injury (for example, breaking glass or starting a fire);

5. prevent a learner leaving where that would put them at immediate risk of serious harm, for example running into traffic.

6. What counts as physical intervention

Supportive or everyday contact is not physical intervention. Examples are a handshake, a high five, a reassuring hand on the shoulder where the learner is comfortable with it, guiding a learner who is willing to be guided, first aid, and coaching contact in sport. Staff still follow the Staff Code of Conduct and respect each learner's boundaries, which may be affected by past trauma.

Physical intervention is any use of force to control, restrict or move a learner against their will, or to disengage from them. It includes:

• holding or restraining a learner;

• guiding or escorting a learner who is resisting;

• blocking a learner's path with your body;

• disengaging from a learner's grip, punch or kick using a Team Teach technique.

All of these are recorded and reviewed under this policy, including disengagement.

7. Who may use physical intervention

Only staff who hold a current Team Teach certificate may use planned physical intervention. All delivery staff complete Team Teach de-escalation and positive handling training, with an annual refresher. Anyone who joins is trained within 4 weeks of starting and takes no part in physical intervention until they are trained. Certificates and expiry dates are held on the Connect training matrix, and Connect alerts the Head of AP before a certificate lapses. A member of staff whose certificate has lapsed must not use Team Teach techniques until refreshed.

Staff use only the techniques they have been trained in, at the level they have been trained to.

In an emergency, where there is an immediate risk of serious injury and no trained member of staff is present, any adult, including a volunteer or partner staff member, may use reasonable force to prevent that harm, using the minimum force needed. They must call for trained help at once, hand over as soon as possible and record what happened in the same way.

8. Prohibited techniques and practices

The following are never permitted at Care Cove, in any circumstances:

• any hold or position that restricts breathing, or puts pressure on the neck, chest, abdomen or back;

• prone restraint (holding a learner face down);

• any planned restraint on the floor. If a learner and staff go to the floor, staff release or move to a safer position as soon as it is safe, and never hold the learner face down;

• seated holds that fold the learner forward;

• pain compliance, including pressure points, joint locks or bending fingers or wrists;

• holding a learner by the head, neck, hair or clothing at the throat;

• tripping, sweeping legs or sitting or kneeling on a learner;

• mechanical restraint (straps, ties or handcuffs) by Care Cove staff;

• medication used to control behaviour;

• seclusion: keeping a learner alone in a room or space they cannot leave. Regulation spaces are never lockable from either side, and their doors are never held shut or blocked;

• locking a learner in any room, or locking or blocking an exit to keep a learner in.

Any use of a prohibited technique is reported to the DSL and Director at once and handled under policy 03.

9. Planning to reduce risk

Individual risk reduction plan. At admission, the entry risk assessment identifies any learner who may need physical intervention, using information from the referring school, the commissioning local authority and the family. For these learners, and for any learner after a first intervention, the key mentor and Head of AP write an individual risk reduction plan and positive handling plan. It records:

• triggers and early warning signs;

• what helps the learner calm down, and what makes things worse;

• the de-escalation strategies and staff the learner responds to best;

• any medical condition, disability, pregnancy, injury or trauma history that affects safe handling, with Clinical Advisor advice where relevant;

• communication needs and any SEND adjustments;

• the Team Teach techniques that may be used if needed, and any that must not be used for this learner;

• how the learner wants to be supported afterwards.

The plan is agreed with the learner and their parents or carers, shared with the referring school and held on Connect where all staff working with the learner can see it. It is reviewed after every intervention and at least every half term at the child plan review.

Prevention at group level. Staffing, group mix, staggered arrivals, supervised transitions and the regulation space protocol in policy 07 all reduce the need for physical intervention.

10. During an intervention

• Call for help straight away so that at least two adults are present wherever possible, and one can manage the rest of the group.

• Keep talking to the learner calmly, explaining what you are doing and that you will let go as soon as it is safe.

• Watch the learner's breathing, colour and distress throughout. Release at once if the learner says they cannot breathe, shows any sign of breathing difficulty, or appears unwell, and call for first aid.

• Change the adult holding the learner if the adult becomes tired or upset.

• Remove other learners from the area.

• Off site or on transport: stop safely, follow the same principles and call 999 if needed.

11. Immediately after an intervention

1. Medical check. A first aider checks the learner and every member of staff involved for injury, even if no injury is reported. The Clinical Advisor is contacted if there is any injury, any concern about breathing or health, or the learner has a relevant medical condition. Call 999 for any serious injury.

2. Learner wellbeing. A trusted adult stays with the learner in a calm space, offers water and time, and does not discuss blame. The learner is never left alone and is not sent home. They continue the day with support when ready.

3. Staff wellbeing. Staff involved are given a short break where possible and checked on by the Head of AP or DSL.

4. Other learners who saw the incident are reassured and given a chance to talk.

12. Recording

Every member of staff involved writes their own account on the Connect physical intervention log before the end of the same working day. The record must include:

• the learner's name, date, start and end time, duration and location;

• the names of all staff involved and their Team Teach status, and any witnesses (staff and learners);

• what happened before the incident, including triggers and early signs;

• the de-escalation tried and how the learner responded;

• why physical intervention was necessary, and which of the reasons in section 5 applied;

• the Team Teach technique or techniques used, for how long, and any change of hold or staff;

• how the intervention ended;

• any injury to anyone, the first aid given and the medical check;

• any damage to property;

• who was told, by whom and when (DSL, parents, school, commissioning local authority);

• the learner's account, added after the learner debrief;

• follow-up actions, including changes to the plan.

If Connect is unavailable, staff use the paper fallback form, which is entered on Connect as soon as possible. Records are kept in line with policy 17.

13. Review within 24 hours

The DSL reviews every intervention with the staff involved within 24 hours. The Head of AP reviews it for practice and training within the same timescale. If the DSL was involved in the intervention, the Director (as Deputy DSL) carries out the safeguarding review.

The review checks:

• whether the intervention was necessary, reasonable, proportionate and as short as possible;

• whether it followed the learner's plan and staff training;

• whether any prohibited technique was used;

• whether anyone was injured and all reporting duties have been met;

• whether the incident raises a safeguarding concern about the learner, or a concern about an adult (section 17);

• what changes are needed to the learner's plan, staffing or environment.

The review outcome is recorded on Connect against the incident.

14. Telling parents, the school and the commissioner

• Parents or carers are told by phone the same day, by the Head of AP or key mentor, before the learner goes home wherever possible. The call is logged on Connect. Parents are told unless the DSL judges this would increase risk to the child.

• The referring school is told the same day by phone or Partner portal message to its named contact.

• For a permanently excluded learner, the local authority's named officer is told the same day.

• The learner's social worker, where they have one, is told where the DSL judges it relevant.

• The commissioning local authority's contract manager receives a report of any injury to a learner (section 16).

15. Debriefs and learner voice

Staff debrief. The Head of AP or DSL holds a debrief with the staff involved the same day: what happened, how each person is, what worked, and what we would do differently. Staff can access support from My Solution Wellbeing. Learning is taken to the weekly multidisciplinary case meeting.

Learner debrief. When the learner is calm, usually the same day and no later than their next attended day, their key mentor or another trusted adult (ideally not one who held them) talks with them:

• What happened, and how did it feel?

• Did the adults help you? Did anything hurt?

• What could the adults do differently next time?

• What could help you next time?

The learner's words are recorded on Connect. If the learner disagrees with the staff account, that is recorded too. Their views are used to update the positive handling plan. A learner who says they were hurt or treated wrongly is taken seriously and the matter is handled under section 17.

16. Injuries and reporting

• Every injury to a learner or member of staff is recorded on Connect and in the accident record, and investigated by the Head of AP.

• Learner injury. Any accident or injury to a learner is recorded, investigated and the report sent to the commissioning local authority's contract manager. The Director makes sure this happens.

• RIDDOR. Where an injury is reportable under RIDDOR 2013 (for example, a staff member injured by a learner and off work for more than seven days, or a learner taken directly from the scene to hospital for treatment because of how an activity was managed), the Director reports it to the Health and Safety Executive, phones the commissioning local authority immediately, and sends a copy of the report form to its contract manager.

• Care Cove's insurers are told where the policy requires.

17. Allegations arising from physical intervention

If a learner, parent or anyone else alleges that a member of staff used unreasonable force, or the review identifies a concern, it is handled under policy 03. The Director, as case manager, is told the same day, and the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) is contacted within one working day. Any allegation about the Director goes to the SWMC Chair. The commissioning local authority's contract manager is told and receives a report of the investigation and action taken.

In line with DfE guidance, a member of staff is not automatically suspended. The member of staff is supported throughout and offered a named contact.

18. Complaints

A learner or parent who is unhappy about how physical intervention was used can complain under policy 19. Complaints are acknowledged and investigated, and the outcome is explained. They can also contact the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman once our process is complete. A complaint never affects the learner's placement.

19. Monitoring and review

• The Head of AP reviews all interventions weekly at the multidisciplinary case meeting.

• Every term the SWMC reviews patterns: the number of interventions; which learners, staff, times, places and techniques were involved; duration; injuries; whether reviews happened within 24 hours and parents were told the same day; any emergency use by untrained staff; any prohibited technique; training compliance; and differences by ethnicity, sex, SEND and looked-after status. The SWMC agrees actions, such as plan changes or extra training.

• Physical intervention trends are included in our reports to commissioning local authorities.

• The SWMC reviews this policy every year, or sooner after a serious incident, a change in law or guidance, or a contract change.

20. Related policies

• 01 Safeguarding and Child Protection
• 03 Managing Allegations Against Staff and Low-Level Concerns
• 04 Whistleblowing
• 07 Behaviour, Rewards and Restorative Practice
• 09 Searching, Screening and Confiscation
• 12 Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)
• 15 Health and Safety, including Fire and First Aid
• 16 Transport and Escorting
• 17 Data Protection, Retention and Information Sharing
• 19 Complaints
• 21 Staff Code of Conduct
• 24 Supporting Medical Needs and Administering Medicines
• 26 Off-site Learning and Educational Visits

Appendix A: Key contacts

Document control and ratification

This policy is signed off by the Designated Safeguarding Lead and the Head of Alternative Provision, and ratified by the Social Work Management Committee. It is reviewed every year, or sooner after an incident or a change in law, statutory guidance or contract requirements, and it is available to any commissioning local authority on request.