The following three asks— which are directed to the Department of Education—are central to our campaign:
- End the use of restrictive practices in educational settings
- Introduce mandatory training for all staff working directly with children and young people with additional needs
- Introduce mandatory reporting of all incidents involving restrictive interventions.
Our May 2021 Policy Statement provides further detail on the changes required.
The use of restraint and seclusion can have extremely harmful effects and it is critical that the human rights of children and young people with additional needs are upheld. Restraint can result in physical injury, and both restraint and seclusion can have damaging impacts on emotional wellbeing and can lead to the children affected experiencing psychological trauma.
On 9 December 2020, BASW NI briefed the Northern Ireland Assembly Education Committee outlining our concerns at the lack of guidance from the Department of Education on the use of restrictive practices. During the session, BASW NI representatives highlighted the importance of child-focused and therapeutic positive behavioural support interventions as an alternative to the use of restrictive practices. The need for mandatory training for teachers and support staff was also raised.
YouTube video https://youtu.be/NjEpHCPFIcQ?t=7104]
We have worked in partnership with members, parent advocates and Koulla Yiasouma—in her former role as Children’s Commissioner—to highlight the extent of the use of restrictive practices. Our work involved participation in the steering group for the Children’s Commissioner’s report Neither Seen Nor Heard: Rights Based Review on the Use of Restraint and Seclusion in Educational Settings, which was published in 2021.
The issues raised in the report, along with the Department of Education’s 2022 review of the use of restraint and seclusion, were explored with Koulla and parent advocate, Deirdre Shakespeare, in an episode of BASW UK’s Let’s Talk Social Work podcast published in April 2022. The episode—The hard yards, campaigning for statutory guidance restraint and seclusion in educational settings—is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Acast.
BASW NI continues to represent the social work profession via our involvement in the Department of Education’s restraint and seclusion reference group, which has been supporting the Department’s Working Group on the development of statutory guidance for schools. The Association also participates in the UK-wide Protecting Rights; Eliminating Restraint group made up of carers, campaigners and organisations working collaboratively to end the use of restrictive practices.
In September 2023 the Department of Education published a consultation on its draft Statutory Guidance on the Reduction and Management of Restrictive Practices in Educational Settings in Northern Ireland
BASW NI welcomed the Department’s commitment to introducing statutory guidance and its acknowledgement that legislative reform is required. Our response emphasised the importance of a rights-based approach and the need for improved support for families. It also highlighted the need for all staff working with children and young people with additional needs to understand all behaviour is communication, and the importance of improved training for staff.
The response also stressed the importance of introducing transparency in recording instances of restrictive practice and the need for definitions of what constitute “last resort scenarios” in which restrictive practices may be used. It also highlighted the importance of preventing the use of pain inducing restrictive practices—including practices which may unintentionally cause pain—and the need for a complete prohibition of the use of enforced seclusion.
BASW NI’s full submission is available here and we await the Department’s response to the public consultation and its proposed next steps.
Since submitting the consultation response, the Association has also written to the Chair of the Education Committee highlighting our concerns regarding the draft guidance.