New guidance for NI schools issued on restraint and seclusion

Parents should be told if their child is restrained in school and the incident should be recorded.

That is according to new interim guidance on restraint and seclusion in schools issued by the Department of Education (DE).

However, there is not yet a legal obligation on schools to record when they restrain a pupil.

Earlier this year, the celebrity and businesswoman Paris Hilton backed parents campaigning to toughen the law.

The children's commissioner, Koulla Yiasouma, has also previously called for laws on when a child can be restrained or isolated in school to be strengthened.

Some parents have led a campaign to change the current guidance, which is more than 20 years old, and social workers have also warned that the practices could have damaging effects on children.

'Last resort'

The department has now sent interim guidance to schools while a review takes place on the use of restraint and isolation in Northern Ireland.

The interim DE guidance said that restraint or reasonable force should only be used as a "last resort" and should "never be used as a form of punishment or to make a child behave; and never deliberately cause pain/injury to a pupil".

"All instances of the use of reasonable force/restraint should be recorded, parents/carers should be informed and follow-up support provided to the pupil and staff involved," it said.

In February, Paris Hilton tweeted her support for the campaign led by parents in NI

However, until the law changes, schools are not legally obliged to record when they restrain a child.

The Children's Commissioner in Scotland has defined seclusion as "shutting a child somewhere alone and not allowing them to leave".

But the interim guidance said that no such definition exists in Northern Ireland.

• School seclusion 'could have damaging effects'

"Current guidance does not seek to define seclusion or indicate what forms of seclusion, if any, are permissible, and in what circumstances," the DE guidance said.

"The issue of seclusion, including Deprivation of Liberty, is being considered as part of the department's review and, subject to ministerial approval, guidance will follow once that process has been completed."

But the interim guidance to schools said that children should "never be locked in a room or left unaccompanied and must be able to leave when they want to".

DE also said it expected to provide full new guidance on restraint and seclusion in the 2021/22 school year.