If you work in a school or care setting where children can behave in ways that put themselves or others at risk, you may have come across the term “care and control training.” It is a phrase with a long history in the UK, and it still appears in job descriptions, policies and Google searches today.
This guide explains what care and control training involved, what has changed, and what schools should look for in physical intervention training now.
What “care and control” training meant
For many years, “care and control” described a style of physical intervention training used mainly with children and young people. Courses were usually longer than a standard one-day positive handling course — typically two or three days — because they covered more ground:
- Holding and guiding skills for situations where a child needs to be kept safe.
- Personal safety and breakaway skills, so staff can protect themselves without using force unnecessarily.
- Verbal and behavioural strategies to reduce the likelihood of physical intervention in the first place.
A distinctive feature of the longer care and control courses was the time spent on behavioural mapping — using models such as the Kaplan/Wheeler behaviour escalation framework to understand what happens before, during and after a crisis — and on values-based verbalisation: the language staff use to de-escalate and to stay calm under pressure.
Trainees practised responses to common scenarios, such as moving past resistance, gaining cooperation, exploring feelings, and dealing with verbal aggression. The aim was never “control for its own sake.” It was to give staff a defensible, skills-based way of keeping everyone safe.
Why the language changed
The term “care and control” can sound like it puts the emphasis on physical control. Modern practice puts the emphasis elsewhere: on prevention, de-escalation and behaviour support first, with physical intervention as a last resort, always guided by dignity, proportionality and the law.
That shift is why you now more often see training described as positive handling, restraint reduction, or positive behaviour support — even when the course covers the same ground as the old care and control model.
At Positive Handling (Dynamis), the natural successor to the two-to-three-day care and control course is our Two-Day Positive Handling & Behaviour Support (PBIS) programme. It is designed for schools with higher levels of behavioural need, and it combines the practical skills from the older model — holds, breakaways, de-escalation — with a modern behaviour-support framework, including the kind of behavioural mapping and verbalisation skills that always underpinned good practice.
What to look for when choosing physical intervention training
Whether a course is labelled “care and control,” “positive handling” or “behaviour support,” the same questions apply:
- Is it prevention-first? Does the course teach de-escalation and relationship-based approaches before any physical technique?
- Is it legally defensible? UK schools operate within clear legal and statutory frameworks (including the DfE’s guidance on using reasonable force). Training should reference them.
- Does it respect dignity? The least restrictive intervention that keeps everyone safe is the standard. Training should be explicit about this.
- Does it match your setting? Special schools, alternative provision, early years and mainstream settings each have different needs. Choose training built for yours.
- Does it build team consistency? The best training leaves a whole staff team with shared language, shared risk assessment and shared responses.
Where to start
If your school’s policy or job descriptions still refer to “care and control,” you do not need to replace the term overnight — but it is worth reviewing what your current training actually delivers against the list above.
For a two-day programme that takes the skills of the older care and control model and updates them within a behaviour-support framework, see our Two-Day Positive Handling & Behaviour Support page. Schools that need a shorter introduction may prefer the one-day Positive Handling course, and teams working in SEN and special school settings will find that course tailored to their context.
You can read what schools say about our work on our testimonials page — or contact us to talk through your setting’s needs.
This guide is part of our ongoing work with schools and academies on restraint reduction and safer positive handling.