Lower Kingswood, Surrey

Behaviour and Restraint Policy 

Legislation and Guidance 

A range of guidance and legislation has been used to inform the writing of this policy. This includes, but is not limited to, The Equality Act 2010, DfE guidance Behaviour and Discipline in Schools 2016, The Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014, Use of Reasonable Force and Restrictive Practices in Schools 2023 

Introduction

Manor Farm seeks to create a caring, calm and therapeutic learning environment and promotes that all staff and young people are entitled to work in a safe, fair and orderly environment and have appropriate access to support, guidance and training on behavioural matters. 

Young people who attend Manor Farm will often display a range of behaviours that create barriers to their learning and progression. For this reason, Manor Farm’s ethos is to enable young people to manage their behaviour through a therapeutic approach. Manor Farm has the general health and wellbeing of young people embedded in its ethos. 

Aims 

Through the implementation of this policy, we aim to; 

• Promote positive behaviour, self-esteem and mutual respect 

• Ensure fairness and consistency is applied when considering behaviour 

• Support young people in understanding their behaviour and in making positive choices 

• Ensure a safe and calm learning environment is available for all 

• Ensure we are working within accepted guidelines and legislation in relation to behaviour and safety 

• Promote democracy, equality, fairness, respect and other British Values 

• Enable and support young people to take responsibility for their choices 

Equal Opportunities 

Manor Farm promotes equal opportunities and anti-discrimination and does not discriminate or support discrimination against either young people, their parents and carers or staff and volunteers on the grounds of any protected characteristic under the Equalities Act 2010. 

Roles and Responsibilities 

The Manor Farm Leadership team has established this policy for promotion of positive behaviour and will keep it under review to ensure that it is communicated to all young people, parents and carers, is non-discriminatory and that Manor Farm’s expectations about behaviour are clear. 

All who work at Manor Farm have a shared responsibility for ensuring that the Manor Farm Behaviour Policy and associated procedures are followed and are consistently and fairly applied. Manor Farm expects that all staff and volunteers model positive behaviour as part of their professional responsibilities and ensure that any incidents of disruption, violence, bullying and any form of harassment are addressed appropriately, reported and recorded. 

Manor Farm also promotes that all staff including volunteers take responsibility for their own personal barriers to effectively manage behaviours. Manor Farm encourages and supports staff to regularly reflect and discuss their own actions and responses to young people’s behaviour. This is to identify any inadvertent contributory factor to a situation escalating and any areas of behaviour management that staff have difficulty with. This helps Manor Farm to ensure appropriate support and training is delivered and that staff and volunteers can confidently and objectively develop and utilise effective strategies with young people to promote the best possible outcomes. 

Parents and carers also have an essential role to play in assisting Manor Farm to maintain high standards of behaviour. Regular liaison with parents and carers and external agencies regarding young people’s challenging behaviour is therefore paramount and proactively initiated by Manor Farm. 

The young people at Manor Farm are encouraged to take responsibility for their own behaviours and will be made fully aware of the expectations of their behaviour. This will always be carried out in a differentiated way to ensure that each young person is able to understand the expectations in a meaningful way. Manor Farm understands that behaviour is often a key aspect to barriers to learning and is typically linked to their circumstances or specific condition. 

Manor Farm has high expectations of the standards of behaviour displayed by young people. However, we recognise that behaviours are linked to diagnosis and factors outlined on their Education Health and Care Plan, and as such there must be great understanding, sensitivity and skill when dealing with behaviour. Inappropriate behaviours or responses are often embedded, learnt behaviours, which have manifested due to disrupted personal backgrounds and experiences. As such, high levels of support and input are required for the young people to be able to meet the standards within this policy. Manor Farm therefore works extensively with young people in a consistent, person centred and intentional manner to help them to be able to display the following positive behaviours: 

• Treating others, the environment and the animals with respect and consideration.                                                             • Being helpful and kind to others
• Using appropriate language
• Contributing to a calm, imaginative and inclusive learning environment                                                                        • Informing staff when having difficulties 

Where unacceptable and/or inappropriate behaviour is displayed, Manor Farm works with young people to help them learn and understand why their behaviour is unacceptable or inappropriate. We help them learn and develop strategies for managing their behaviour and 

To keep all the people and animals at Manor Farm safe, we expect students to: 

• Stay with the group unless given permission from a staff ,member to do otherwise 

• Never leave site without permission from a staff member 

• Never intentionally hurt other people or animals

• Leave the site when sessions are finished, we have tight schedules. 

• Stay in permitted areas

• Do not handle or feed animals unless given permission from a staff member  

Where these rules are broken, intentionally or otherwise, the behaviour will be directly challenged. This will be done in a way which is sensitive to the individual’s needs and understanding. Natural consequences may be put in place which directly link to the rule which has been broken. These may include, but are not limited to; 

• Discussions with parents/carers 

• A time-limited ban on working with animals 

• An expectation of an apology 

Reflection, restorative approaches and reviews of risk assessments are all implemented as soon as possible after an event. 

In rare cases, where behaviour has caused significant harm or has put people or animals at significant risk of harm, a review of the placement may be undertaken. Whilst we understand the need to be patient, sensitive and to accept that it takes time to change embedded behaviours, safety is always paramount. 

Early Intervention 

Due to the nature of our young people, Manor Farm operates intensively on pre-empting behaviours and early intervention. Manor Farm employs processes to achieve effectiveness in this area and promote environments and methods of teaching conducive to supporting young people to display positive behaviours. Early intervention methods rely on the following processes, which direct the work of all Manor Farm staff on an individual basis. 

Knowledge of young person’s needs, prior behaviours and incidents and any known triggers 

Staff should discuss situations where children have shown challenging behaviour 

Risk assessments and behaviour plans should be put in place when necessary 

Staff should have read EHCP’s when available 

Anti-bullying

Through the proactive work that Manor Farm undertakes with all young people, anti- bullying education is embedded throughout the curriculum and therapies. An emphasis is placed on how to behave respectfully, kindly and thoughtfully, rather than a focus on how not to behave. 

Cyber-bullying

All types of bullying are addressed through this pro-active approach. Particular emphasis is placed on cyber-bullying. A focus is placed on the Young People keeping themselves safe through being open and transparent about their online activities, setting boundaries in relationships and friendships and problem-solving theoretical problems before they happen. Staff at Manor Farm use our positive relationships with Parents and Carers to ensure we communicate incidents of potential cyber-bullying in a timely fashion. We offer advice and support to Parents/Carers on how to manage these incidents. 

Prejudicial Bullying 

Incidents of a prejudicial nature are recorded and support is put in place for both the victim and the person committing the bullying act. The victim is supported to discuss how they feel and ways forward. The person who has committed the bullying act is supported to understand why this type of bullying is particularly serious. Any form of bullying which involved prejudice against protected characteristics is treated extremely seriously and Parents/Carers of both parties are always informed. 

How bullying is addressed 

Due to the structure of the day, constant supervision and the high staffing ratios, incidents of bullying are rare at Manor Farm. However, where these do occur, they will always be challenged in the most appropriate way. A record is kept of any incidents of bullying and parents/carers of both the victim and the young person exhibiting bullying behaviours are always informed.
Restorative approaches are used to ensure the victim is supported and the young person who has bullied them understands (as far as is possible) how they have made that person feel. 

Any young person who is found to be exhibiting bullying behaviours will undertake targeted work in 1:1 sessions.
Where bullying behaviours persist over time, despite the interventions put in place, a review of the young person’s placement will be undertaken. All young people have the right to feel safe and, as adults, we have a duty of care to protect them from physical and emotional harm. 

Where the use of physical intervention and other restrictive practice is the only safe course of action, it is guided by the following principals: 

• It will only be used as a last resort where the use of positive behavioural strategies have not been effective in reducing the risk or the occurrence of a behaviour. 

• Staff are adequately trained and competent to use physical intervention and must adhere to all safety measures. 

• It will only be used where failing to act will place the child or young person or others at risk of harm. 

• Children and young people have the fundamental right of freedom of movement and liberty and this will be central to all strategies that involve or are considered to involve the use of a restrictive measure. 

• Staff have the right to work in a safe environment and be able to take action which is appropriate to maintain their wellbeing. 

• All interventions in all contexts must be appropriate to the incident, be a proportionate response to the incident, use a proportionate degree of force, be the least restrictive option available, be respectful to the child or young person and be used for no longer than is necessary to prevent harm to the child or young person or to others. 

All physical interventions are recorded using a numbered, non-editable system. They are reported to the Senior Leadership Team as soon as is practicably possible. They are reported to parents/carers before the young person leaves the site to return home. Reports are created and entered into the system before the end of the day of the incident. 

Straight after a physical intervention, emotional support and (if needed) first aid is offered and encouraged for all involved, both staff and young people. A debrief will always take place within 24 hours of the incident occurring (this may be longer if the incident has occurred on a Friday afternoon). This gives some time for emotions to be regulated and reflection to take place before decisions are made about moving forward. 

The young person may need to take part in a restorative conversation or activity with those involved. They will be encouraged to take part in a reflective conversation about what happened, why it happened and what can be done in the future to avoid it happening again. 

Structured control measures for staff include: 

• Young people are supervised always whilst at Manor Farm; this includes breaks and lunch times 

• All offsite education is pre-planned and agreed by the Executive Director which is discussed at morning briefing 

• All staff are made aware in briefing meeting which young people will be in and out of the farm 

• All staff are made aware in briefing of any expected meetings or visitors to Manor Farm 

Should the Head of Education be unavailable, staff will be made aware of an alternative contact for advice / guidance on behavioural management. 

Actions and Consequences 

Manor Farm uses a variety of generic and individual strategies for managing unwanted behaviour and promoting positive behaviour. Positive behaviour will be promoted by pro-social modelling by all staff and volunteers, discussions with young people on expectations, reflections on previous incidents, ongoing work on behaviour management, encouragement and praise and use of appropriate learning environment and methodology relative to individual needs. Unwanted behaviours will be dealt with on an individual basis. 

Manor Farm does not work in a punitive way but aims to support the young people in taking responsibility for their actions and to learn that there are always consequences to the actions they take and decisions they make. 

Manor Farm aims to encourage and celebrate the success of all its young people in all areas of Manor Farm life, and to ensure that personal effort, commitment and achievement is acknowledged, rewarded and recorded. Just as undesirable natural consequences may arise from unwanted behaviours, so too can desirable consequences arise from positive behaviours. For example, remaining calm when facing challenges ensures a young person can continue with a favoured activity. On occasion, small rewards may be given in the form of prizes or certificates. However, where possible, each Young Person will be encouraged to appreciate the value of a positive natural consequence as its own reward. 

Involvement with Parents/Carers and other Agencies 

Manor Farm seeks to involve parents/carers and other agencies in many aspects of behaviour management. Manor Farm will seek to share good practice in behavioural management with parents/carers, and other agencies in order that effective practice can be consistently employed for the benefit of the young people Manor Farm will also seek to gain knowledge on best practice from parents/carers and other agencies.