Email from my child’s infant school uk? I’m sorry but this all seems wrong?

[Frazzledmomma123]

Dear Families,

I wanted to address a concern that has understandably been raised regarding the use of a ‘safe word’ to move children out of the classroom. On reflection, we recognise that terms such as safe word and evacuation can raise anxiety and concern.

We agree that children should not have to leave their own classroom in order to feel safe. However, there are times, though not daily, when moving the class is the safest option for all children. This has happened a few times, and only when absolutely necessary. We fully accept having to go to such measures is a worry, but it is a system that schools are having to turn to more and more. I appreciate this provides little comfort, but hopefully helps you hear that supporting emotional regulation has become a real focus and factor for schools nationally.

The children themselves were involved in choosing the word, and the purpose was to minimise panic and keep the situation calm if it needed to be used. Our aim is always for every child to feel safe, happy, and able to learn in their classroom, as is their right. We are putting a range of steps and strategies in place to work towards this, and we do not intend this approach to become the “go‑to.”

We also want to reassure you that we are supporting children to understand that behaviour is a communication of feelings, but the way those feelings are shown must still be safe and appropriate. We do not condone unsafe behaviour, and we share parents’ concerns about children seeing this as “normal.” I have spoken with the class to reiterate that message and reminded them that they should always talk to a trusted adult if they feel unsure or worried. In school, children choose five trusted adults; it may be helpful to have a similar conversation at home about who your child feels they can talk to at school.

We are very aware that things are challenging at the moment. We do not want this to continue, and we are actively putting support in place to help all children feel safe and settled in their learning environment.

Thank you for reading, please keep speaking to us about your concerns.

Yes but school can’t force this. Parents have to want it.

So you think it's better that a dysregulated child is forcibly manhandled out of class causing them and their classmates distress than this non confrontational approach which will undoubtedly enable people to leave the classroom in a safe, calm, controlled fashion where everyone can achieve safety more quickly?
In such a state where this would be required, a dysregulated child is not in any way considering the impact of their behaviour or that they're being taught a lesson or sent a message that their behaviour is unacceptable
FFS OP

Id imagine its about pupils becoming aggressive and engaging in behaviours that pose a risk to the other children, necessitating the removal of the rest of the class for their own safety.

Because anyone that has the first clue about how to handle a violent situation knows that getting everyone away from the violence is the safest and quickest way to deescalate.
It is a whole lot easier to get a group of children calmly out of harms way than it is to try amd calm the aggressor with them there.

A child that needs to be forcibly removed or restrained should not be in mainstream school. A child that makes other unsafe - teacher or pupils should not be in mainstream school. It's not rocket science - why are some parents insisting their kid should be in mainstream when s/he isn't suitable for mainstream? And why is the government insisting on one size fits all when we all know it does not. Bridget Phillipson needs to sort out this mess instead of providing soggy toast and trying to divert attention away from how bad state schools currently are. What is happening to fix this issue? Absolutely nothing - and it is the future of our country.

It's not that easy, for the parent or the school to just "move the child out", or "move the child to a special school."

Let's all wish it was and make it so.🙄

EHCPs and evidence gathering for special schools take years and have to be fought for.

It used to be the case that teachers or TAs could get what was euphemistically called positive handling.

this was training specifically for children who were violent. It was usually specified that it was only for one specific named child.

the general gist of it was that there was three levels : first building relationships and being positive with the child to head off the risk of any violence. Secondly removing the class/people from around them. Thirdly physically restraining the child.

as time went on the authorised and taught restraints got fewer and fewer as children were able to inflict injuries to either themselves or others and eventually the advice became just the first two as restraining the child is just too risky legally. Nobody dares teach physical restraints any more and the union advice could be boiled down to “stay the fuck away from a violent child because they could give you life changing injuries and the school sure as fuck won’t care”.

so these days if a child is violent everyone leaves where they are and they are left to calm themselves down. If there’s a Senco they might be called but most pastoral and senior leadership staff take the view that they aren’t paid enough to deal with this shit (and they are more aware than most of precisely how little the school will care if they are injured) so they’ll wait in the corridor until the violence seems to be over.

That there is a plan in place isn’t really a problem. It’s no different than having fire drills.

the issue is only if there are actually evacuations happening. If this is something that has happened in your child‘s classroom more than once, I would expect the school to be proactive.

Some schools are better than others at addressing student’s needs. A student having multiple episodes is not being well served any more than the other students.

Even if they do want it, it’s a long and difficult process to get it.

Ok, it’s not always possible to forcibly remove a child in that kind of meltdown. They may be too heavy for the teacher to safely pick up, they may be flailing around so much that they or the teacher or nearby children will be injured, they may become even more dysregulated and bite or scratch the teacher or themselves.

If the child is injured at all the teacher could lose their entire career. If the teacher or other children are injured that’s obviously unacceptable.

The safest option is often just to remove the other children who are able to cooperate.

Secondary teacher here - this is my experience this year.

Learners A and B (generalising) can turn up any time in the lesson. If they are in a volatile mood they wind themselves and certain others up with immediate impact. This can involve belongings, equipment, furniture damaged, thrown or stolen. I have seen it escalating and I could see what was coming. I myself found it necessary to tell the class a certain instruction that when I said it meant leave and line up in the enclosed courtyard outside.

When the behaviour escalated, and became dangerous as I had foreseen, I am glad I did. My job above anything else is their safety. First year I have had to do this, but that is just one version from one year group.

If i was Op i would be seriously consider moving my.own child from that school.

And yes we’d all prefer that these children be in settings that are suitable for them - I suggest you bear that in mind when next voting, or consider joining the campaigning groups around these issues that exist. But your school has to deal with the situation as it is, not what they’d like it to be.

I'm shocked at the lack of compassion towards children being shown on this thread. The reasons for children being unable to consistently conform with classroom norms are numerous. Resources in schools are stretched. Parents of children who cope or even thrive at school should give thanks and spend a few minutes considering how the lives of some parents are severely constrained by children with SEN, through no fault of their own.

Have you ever tried to pick up a wounded Eurasian Lynx? That's the scale of the response trying to 'forcibly remove' a child in that emotional state.

Why should somebody paid less than minimum wage over the course of a year be expected to bundle into a child who is operating on instinct only and will react to what is fundamentally a physical assault by fighting for their life out of sheer panic? Why would you want your child to think that if they get really upset that their trusted adults will grab them, pin them down and then drag them kicking and screaming out of the room in front of everybody? Or that you'd want them to see their adored teacher bleeding or with a cracked shin or broken fingers as a result? Or for them to come home with injuries caused in the process of watching this unfold in front of them and the panicking child going for them, going through them or just plain being caught in the crossfire?

Taking it up the year groups, you also have spectator dynamics, where kids, especially teenagers, crowd around to watch and scream and laugh and shout if you do the big display. In other words, absolute chaos, making it far worse for the child and the staff.

It's far, far better and safer for all concerned for the rest of the class to exit quietly whilst a small number of trained staff do what they can to contain the situation.

I have two SEN kids, volunteer for the local autism charity in a support role, and am retraining to work in this field. I don’t know a single SEN parent who insists their child should stay in mainstream - most of us are desperately trying to get places in more suitable settings, but they simply aren’t available. Thirty years ago one of my kids would have been in a special school, now he comes nowhere close to the threshold to get a place, we have no chance. So he’s in mainstream, and the school has to do their best.

So the school is saying that on a few occasions, not daily, but often enough to say "not daily", the situation in the classroom has been such that the adults felt they had no choice but to tell the children to vacate in an emergency. This is totally out of order. Whoever is causing the disturbance needs to be removed.

i applaud you, I could never be a teacher in this day and age. Can I ask what consequences did the pupil get after? What changes society and within schools would you like to see?

Hopefully this is a wake-up call, schools are broken labour is not going to fix them. It's going to get worse until serious money is put in to getting actual special schools, with adequate provision set up.

School will be less and less equipt to deal with this, and the issues will grow.

Thank you - that makes sense.

Looks like I hadn’t completely made it up!

Wouldn’t be a teacher for millions!

Obviously you know full well that what shouldn't be happening is the defunding of support for children with additional needs. If inclusion were done properly there would be far more staff and smaller class sizes and properly supported children would be far less likely to get to this stage. Some children are completely overwhelmed by the noise and chaos of 30 children in a room with one adult and often extremely anxious and/ or frustrated about not completely understanding elements of what's going on.

That must be very stressful. Is it because lots of specialist schools have closed down (have they?) - or has the need increased and there aren't enough schools any more?

Further to the above post I made - this is an absurd suggestion on an every day teaching level.

I am a 50 something 5.5 teacher. The students I mentioned generally are in a lower year group. They run full tilt around rooms, not always but often. They are faster and stronger than me. How on earth am I to safely manage that? What is the training? Or do you want 'muscle'/security teams in schools like an PRU?

It's both, and things like less staff meaning bigger classes, so children who would be fine in small groups are now not because of noise/frustration and so on.

Unfortunately there aren’t enough alternative provisions and schools are now being told to ensure they have a dedicated space for SEN children, mainstream schools are under a lot of pressure to be fully inclusive, the government is not interested in creating more SEN schools.
Mainstream is not always the best place for children with SEN but all children are entitled to an education and therefore schools need to make adjustments and create strategies to deal with certain behaviours when the need arises.
Your child’s school is prioritising the safety of their children and staff, I can’t see why you would be outraged over this.