Restraint and isolation: Schools will be required to inform parents

All schools will have a legal duty to tell parents if their child has been restrained or put in isolation.

But those measures should only be used as a last resort to stop harm and never as punishment.

That is according to new statutory guidance published by the Department of Education (DE).

Similar recent guidance from the Department of Health (DoH) said that children should never be shut in a room alone and prevented from leaving.

Some parents in Northern Ireland have campaigned for "Harry's Law" for a number of years, which would make it compulsory for schools to report when they isolated or restrained a child.

Others have also called for tougher laws on when a child can be physically restrained in school.

Paris Hilton claimed that she was placed in solitary confinement when at boarding school

That call has also previously been backed by the celebrity and businesswoman Paris Hilton.

Ms Hilton has claimed that she was placed in solitary confinement when at boarding school in the US as a teenager.

The Department of Education had provided interim guidance on restraint and seclusion in 2021, but that did not place a legal obligation on schools to record when they restrained a pupil.

The department has now drawn up new statutory guidance which schools will have to follow by law.

'Crisis situation'

It said that restrictive practices like restraint and seclusion "should only ever be used when it is necessary and proportionate to do so in order to keep children, young people, and others from coming to harm".

The new guidance defines seclusion as "placing a child or young person involuntarily in any environment in which they are alone and prevented from leaving".

It said that seclusion "must never be used in educational settings in Northern Ireland unless in a crisis situation where it is necessary for the prevention of serious physical harm to individuals".

In the new guidance, DE give an example of a case where a child was secluded in a "crisis situation," having threatened to kill a teacher with a pair of scissors.

They were contained in the school foyer until police arrived.

Restraint can include physical or mechanical restraint, where a child or young person is prevented from moving or part of their body is restrained.

That can include the use of things like belts or cuffs to restrain a pupil's movement.

The new DE guidance said "this form of restraint must never be used in educational settings in Northern Ireland to control behaviour or as a punitive measure".

Informing parents

It also places a legal duty on schools to inform parents or carers if a child has been restrained or secluded in school.

The school must also keep a detailed record of any incident.

"As statutory guidance, any departure from it will be unlawful unless there is a compelling reason for doing so," the guidance said.

The new guidance was drawn up by officials from DE working with a number of other organisations as well as parents and teachers.

It is now out for consultation until 3 November 2023.