The Scottish Government

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Recruitment

Schools and education authorities will generally by guided by their authority policies on human resources and recruitment. This would be expected to include:

• a disclosure check which will include information on any disqualifications from working in child care positions, see Disclosure Checks and Disqualified from Working with Children
• efforts to gain background information on individuals who have been working abroad prior to applying for a position. Disclosure Scotland can provide information about British citizens who have been convicted abroad only in those cases where the Scottish Criminal Records Office or the Police National Computer receive notification from the relevant judicial authority. Disclosure Scotland cannot check the criminal history of citizens of other countries who have come to live and work in Scotland. Some countries do, however, offer a facility to request checks on their citizens. Information about this facility can be found on the Criminal Record Bureau's website but employers must take forward these enquires. The website address is: http://www.crb.gov.uk/services_overseas.asp
• checks with the General Teaching Council for Scotland for registered teachers
• requests for at least two references, which should be followed up
• a clear set of criteria and qualifications required for the position.

Following appointment, schools and authorities should also consider:

• an induction programme which includes:
• familiarity with signs that a child or young person needs help, and an understanding of how to respond
• introduction to the Child Protection Co-ordinator in the school
• full training on child protection as soon as possible if the person is new to the authority or position
• arrangements for appropriate supervision and clear responsibility among all staff for peer observation and support, with an expectation that concerns will be immediately followed up
• providing a key contact or colleague who will support the member of staff in the first months in post.

The Scottish Executive has issued a comprehensive guide to good practice Health and Safety on Educational Excursions ( SEED: 2004; www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/education/hsee-00.asp . There is also the guidance in The Protection of Young People in the Context of International Visits, Revised Edition 2002 www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/education.pcsr-08.asp . These documents give information on all aspects of planning residential trips. Further advice is provided here on issues that should be considered in terms of keeping children safe and well during trips and visits.

Residential Visits

For all kinds of visits, attention must be made to the needs of disabled pupils and the suitability of facilities for them. School staff should be aware that hotels and centres may over-rate their disabled access and sometimes provide facilities in ways that compromise the dignity or privacy of disabled guests. It is clearly not appropriate for schools to use this reason to restrict participation in residential trips. The Disability Discrimination Act addresses access by disabled pupils to all school services, including trips and excursions. Pupils, their parents and schools may need to take a creative and problem-solving approach to enable full participation in trips.

It is understandable that both staff and children might feel that greater informality is appropriate during school visits and trips. However there is a significant difference between a more informal approach, and a failure to exercise due care. In particular:

• a code of conduct should be agreed with both parents and children and young people prior to departure, and decisions taken on the response should it be broken. This code should be regularly discussed. There should be clear procedures in relation to contact between the parents, the establishment home base (or authority), and the staff while abroad
• young people should not be permitted to wander alone in unfamiliar places
• staff should not fraternise or be over-familiar with children and young people
• even in countries where the legislation with regard to alcohol or drugs is more lenient than in Scotland, staff should not condone young people drinking alcohol or taking drugs when they could not legally do so in Scotland
• staff should ensure that they continue to keep a watch on children in 'free time'
• that peer relationships and peer support and responsibility are encouraged and that peer conflict or bullying is addressed, as children experiencing this can feel particularly vulnerable away from home.

"Our trip was brilliant! But it was good to have talked with staff before we went about ground rules. We're teenagers, we'll always push it a bit. We respected what it's like for staff after talking about it with them.
(pupil)

Even when all aspects have been well considered, it is still possible that an abuse incident may occur. Communication is a key aspect of any response:

• should an incident occur, teachers should follow the guidance for acting on concerns, immediately seeking advice from their Headteacher, CP Co-ordinator and education authority Child Protection in Education Manager
• staff should listen to pupils and record what has taken place
• where it is believed a crime has/may have been committed a referral should be made to the relevant police service immediately. (Although it should be noted that in relation to sexual activity and other issues, different countries have different ages of consent.)
• staff on the visit should focus on supporting the child and the group
• staff should discuss with pupils what is being done to keep parents and others informed, and discussing the potential impact on pupils, their families and friends of careless communication. Responsible and calm contact with families and friends should be encouraged to prevent misinformation and rumours
• direct contact by home-based staff with the parents of those directly involved should be made as soon as what has happened is relatively clear, usually by the Headteacher or local authority representative. Given the general availability of mobile phones, any significant delay in contacting parents should be avoided to prevent the spread of rumours.

"The positive relationships between staff and pupils that come from school trips makes all the planning worthwhile. But I want my staff to feel that while they are away, there will be 100% back up with clear lines of support and advice."
(Headteacher)

School Trips

Much of the advice for residential visits is relevant to school day trips. Key points for staff include:

• be familiar with the location and facilities to be visited
• prepare pupils and make expectations and emergency arrangements clear. Losing pupils in large cities, venues and events is a real possibility. There should be re-group points and times, and contact numbers for staff mobiles (or relay arrangements via the school number)
• prepare staff and any helpers in the same way. Provide information for non-school staff on responses to difficult situations with the emphasis on informing school staff immediately. Consider supervision arrangements for non-school staff during the visit (see Disclosure Checking)

Children, or their families, who come to this country seeking asylum or remain as refugees may have already undergone a series of traumatic experiences and will continue to experience difficulties in this country:

• extreme circumstances may have caused them to leave their home
• they have lost friends and close family members
• they may have experienced long, complex and perhaps dangerous journeys
• they are uncertain about the present and the future while their status is being decided
• they may not understand our education, health, social work and welfare systems
• they may experience racial harassment
• children and young people may arrive here with the intention of staying with relatives they may not know, and who may not always want responsibility for them
• children and young people may respond to these difficult experiences with physical, mental and emotional ill-health
• they may not speak English or have limited English, and may not understand the cultures or religious beliefs.

"Even as an experienced professional I felt uncertain of how much I would approach pupils newly arrived in this country from goodness knows what experiences in their home countries. But it's really a familiar process of listening, observing, trying as much as possible to involve the pupil and parents, building trust."
(Depute Head)

Schools can work in a number of ways to support refugee and asylum seeking children. This will help schools to identify and respond to children's and young people's needs for help:

• assess the additional support needs of the child and a plan to meet these needs (see Additional Support Needs and Co-ordinated Support Plans)
• be prepared to review the plan at short and frequent intervals. There may be a gradually 'unfolding story' for the child in which new information is gained through the development of trust or the development of language
• develop close support through the school's pastoral care system to monitor attendance and progress, and implementation of the support plan
• develop contact and relationships with the family or carers of the child
• make best use of services such as English as a Second Language for both child and parents
• use mentors and buddies to establish peer support and relationships in the school
• be aware that children from the same country may be from opposing sides of a conflict or have ethnic or religious differences that will create tensions, rather than support, for children
• be alert to bullying or racial harassment, including isolation.

Although the circumstances of refugees and asylum seeking children will be expected to cause them distress, schools should follow child protection procedures if there are any concerns about the child's safety and wellbeing. It will be easier for a member of staff who gets to know the child well to assess any changes in the child that signal abuse or neglect, hence the need for close support through the school's pastoral care system.

Staff might find the Scottish Translation, Interpreting and Communication Support Good Practice Guidelines a useful reference document- http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/social/stic-00.asp

Better Behaviour - Better Learning ( SEED, 2001) www.scotland.gov.uk/library3/education/rdtg-00.asp recommended that all education authorities provide staff with guidelines on appropriate levels of intervention when handling disciplinary matters. Conflict and aggression can be minimised by using effective de-escalation techniques and by assessing environments around the school using tools such as the environmental checklist used in Staged Intervention ( FFI). Confident, trained staff working within a supportive team climate will feel they can handle day-to-day situations effectively and will feel happy to call on the support of colleagues.

However, occasionally pupils may act out violently in extreme distress as well as in anger. De-escalation is still the first strategy for staff in any serious situation:

• take the time to assess the situation
• wherever possible, use de-escalation skills to stop the undesirable behaviour
• focus on protecting yourself, protecting other children, and protecting the child at the centre of the situation
• remove others to safety
• if the child can be allowed to calm down without hurting themselves or others, or causing serious damage, this is preferable
• send for help, but do not leave the child alone. If you do not know the child well, send for a member of staff who does know how the child generally responds.

Schools can support staff by:

• having a system known and understood by all staff by which help and support will arrive quickly when there is a serious incident
• providing de-briefing for all staff following an incident, even if it is minor. This de-briefing helps staff to feel supported and reduces their own stress
• having a simple reporting process to ensure all the facts of an incident, and how it was responded to, are recorded quickly
• having strategies in place to deal with incidents and identifying key staff who may respond to individual children who are vulnerable to stress (however, strategies solely reliant on one or two members of staff will not be effective)
• training staff in de-escalation techniques and in developing skilled approaches to interacting with pupils to reduce confrontation.

Restraint

The main intention of restraint in any situation is to protect a child from harm, and should only be attempted as a last resort and when it can be achieved without causing harm to the child or to the member of staff involved. The nature of situations in which restraint may be required cannot always be predicted and assistance from other staff, while preferable, may not always be possible. All incidents of restraint should be logged, dated and signed in a log kept for that purpose, and this log should be monitored by a member of the senior management team.

In settings where staff may require to physically restrain pupils on a regular basis, they should receive specialised training for this role with regular refreshers. When individual pupils are known to require restraint, a plan or protocol should be drawn up, explaining precisely what action staff will take, and recording triggers, times and outcomes of incidents. The protocol should be agreed with parents/carers and when appropriate the child or young person. Even for trained staff, restraint should only be used as a last resort.

Staff should make the school and education authority, and their colleagues, aware of any medical conditions which affect them in relation to physical interventions. Staff should also be generally aware of any medical conditions affecting pupils which may affect how staff respond to them in challenging situations.

"Taking school safety seriously does not mean there are big problems here. It means we are taking staff self-confidence seriously. "
(Principal Teacher)

Weapons

Where a teacher suspects that a child is in possession of a weapon in school, this should be referred to the headteacher immediately. The headteacher may ask the child to disclose and display the contents of pockets or bags, to ascertain that there is no weapon. If the headteacher is not certain whether or not the child has a weapon, or if the child will not co-operate by displaying belongings, then the police may be called immediately. Parents may be informed in the school handbook that this procedure will take place without delay, for the safety of the school.

Parents should be encouraged to ensure that their child does not bring dangerous objects or weapons into school and to respect a school's decision to confiscate some items. A confiscated weapon may be handed directly over to the police, or other objects may be collected from the school by the parent.

In a situation where a child is threatening to use a weapon, control must be established as soon as possible. Staff should follow the de-escalation steps, and should not attempt to approach a child in an unpredictable situation. The safety of staff and other children is paramount.

All staff should be aware of procedures to follow if they suspect a weapon. Staff should also be aware of items other than knives, etc that can be used as weapons.

Schools should consider, in their Personal Safety Education how pupils can be encouraged to develop safe and responsible attitudes, not only to carrying weapons themselves, but to reporting others known to have weapons. Pupils should also be encouraged to discuss why people carry weapons and their perceptions of the risks arising from this (those who do carry weapons may perceive some benefits, such as personal protection).

Schools should operate procedures to ensure that any tools used within the school in art, home economics, or craft and design, are accounted for at the end of every lesson.

Risk assessment

If an individual child is known to become aggressive, a risk assessment should be undertaken and staff and parents should agree appropriate plans for responses if an incident occurs. The plan should include known triggers which affect the child's self control and consideration of how these might be avoided. Following an incident, the plan should be reviewed and amended as necessary. This plan may form part of an Individual Education Plan or a Co-ordinated Support Plan. Following such incidents a record should be kept of the event, and the actions taken by staff.

Staff safety

Many staff fear that any form of physical intervention leaves them open to allegations of misconduct. Staff need to understand that their first duty of care and protection for children should inform their actions when considering intervening in a situation. It is their intention that will be judged if their actions are subsequently questioned. Staff must also feel that their senior managers and other colleagues care for their welfare and protection, and staff must also be supported to recognise that, as human beings, they will experience an emotional response to challenging situations that is normal. Where staff feel their emotional response is affecting their ability to respond to pupils calmly, they must call on the support of other staff without feeling compromised.

The reporting and recording process associated with physical intervention and restraint should not be seen as negative or punitive. In effective schools, the information will be used to support staff, prevent further incidents and enable an assessment of further training requirements for staff or the need for further action or support for the child.

Staff responding on the spur of the moment may also take action which colleagues regard, with the benefit of not being directly involved, as inappropriate. Staff may at times make mistakes. Senior management responses should ensure that learning is the main outcome of any situation, and seek to resolve issues while respecting the dignity of pupils and staff involved.

Physical reassurance to children

Generally, physical contact with pupils should be minimised. Younger children may seek physical reassurance as they would from a parent, and staff should not feel inhibited from providing this when the child initiates the contact and when it is appropriate. Staff should never touch a child who has indicated that s/he is uncomfortable with it (unless restraint is necessary to protect the child or others from harm). Older pupils may prefer this reassurance from peers and when they are in distress, they may be offered the opportunity to be with a friend to comfort them.

Staff providing personal care to disabled children should take care regarding both privacy and appropriate contact, as far as possible meeting the personal preferences for care and carer of the individual child involved (see Intimate Care for Children and Young People with a Disability).

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