Guidelines for Staff who provide Intimate Care for Children and Young People with Disabilities

Project Team:

• Mrs Mary Currie (Assistant Head Teacher, Pinewood School, West Lothian Council)

• Ms Jo Eales (Headteacher, Westfield School, Midlothian Council)

• Mrs Christine Simpson (Training Coordinator, Joint Council Protection Committee, Clackmannan, Falkirk and Stirling Councils)

The project team gratefully acknowledges the valued advice of

HMI Mr Alistair F Marquis, SOEID, and his management of the project.

The Association of Directors of Education in Scotland and the Scottish Association for Community Child Health were consulted regarding the content of these guidelines.

The Scottish Office, 1999

This publication may be copied in whole or in part by educational establishments for the purposes of instruction. The views expressed in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of The Scottish Office Education and Industry Department or any other Government Department.

FOREWORD

All education authorities in Scotland have guidelines and procedures for Child Protection to ensure the safety and well-being of children and young people and to protect those adults working with them. This publication does not seek to duplicate that advice. However, there was an identified gap in the guidance generally available to staff working with pupils with special educational needs, mostly notably where intimate care is involved. In 1997, SOEID funded a small project to produce guidance for staff working with this vulnerable group of children and young people.

These guidelines draw on the good practice already in evidence across a wide number of schools. The project team undertook a considerable number of visits to educational settings making provision for pupils with a wide range of special educational needs, including schools providing residential care. Particular care was taken in interviewing adults from several disciplines to ensure that issues which are important to parents, staff and the young people themselves regarding intimate care were covered.

The key aims of the project were:

• To raise awareness and make practical recommendations based on good practice;
• To provide guidance and reassurance to staff in a climate of litigation and give information about the legal context of intimate care;
• To provide ideas for appropriate staff development and training; induction programmes; consultation; and, involvement of parents;

and, most importantly,

• To safeguard the rights of children and young people to be protected from exploitation and all forms of abuse; physical, emotional and sexual and to safeguard adults required to operate in sensitive situations .

The contents of these guidelines will prove reassuring to both staff and parents. The project team hope that those working with children and young people requiring intimate care will find these guidelines helpful. Staff will wish to consider their current practices against the advice offered. The appendices are included as exemplars of good practice in the knowledge that establishments can amend these to suit their own unique circumstances. The bibliography points up additional sources of very useful and relevant advice. These guidelines should allow all involved in making provision for young people with special educational needs to continue to deliver a high quality of education and care.

Note: In these guidelines, for the purposes of simplicity, 'child' is used to refer to children and young people.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This document was prepared after wide consultation. Particular thanks are due to the following individuals:

Alison Irvine, Child Care Planning Officer, Perth & Kinross Council

Dr Jane Gray, Medical Director, Services for People with Epilepsy

Meg Lindsay, Director, Centre for Residential Care, Glasgow

Christine McGarvey, Training Officer, Epilepsy Association for Scotland

Sally Millar, Call Centre, University of Edinburgh

Jackie Smith, Moving & Handling Coordinator, Edinburgh Sick Children's NHS Trust

Priscilla Webster, Support for Learning Coordinator, Angus Council

and staff of the following establishments:

Barnado's Caern Project, Edinburgh

Beatlie School, West Lothian

Oaklands School, City of Edinburgh

Pinewood School, West Lothian

Seaview House, Respite Care Unit, City of Edinburgh

Westerlea School (Capability Scotland), City of Edinburgh

Various documents which were consulted are listed in the Bibliography.