Behaviourally, we know that adolescents in a secondary environment:
– experience social status (the hierarchy, the pecking order) as a major driver for their behaviour
– are hugely influenced by group dynamics, are sensitive to in-group and out-group interactions
– when in conflict are influenced powerfully by the audience who is watching the incident
– if given an opportunity to withdraw and disengage from conflict, will take that option rather than ‘melt down’ in front of their peers.

The forseeable results of a poorly managed physical intervention at Secondary Schools and Colleges could be:
– a child with a life-changing injury
– a staff member with a life-changing injury
– career-ending legal proceedings against the staff member
– career-limiting prosecution of management decisions

– balance duty of care for your staff's own safety and for the children and their colleagues.
– keep everyone safe, verbally if they can and physically only if they must
– make split-second decisions about Necessity and Proportionality
– employ techniques which have been medically audited for use with children and young people
– avoid the use of dangerous and prohibited methods of restraint
– follow the Department of Education guidance on Use of Force (11 pages of succinct content)
– manage their concern of post-incident allegations so that they respond appropriately
– write a legally robust incident report after the encounter

It can be hard for staff to deploy appropriate de-escalation strategies where abuse directed towards them become very personal, or potentially damaging to their career, or over time wear away at the teacher’s professional presence (again with the issues of the audience, peer-oversight and the horizontal conflict that is often present in pressurised workplaces). 

This is where giving time to staff to practice their responses to such behaviour, while overlaying some insight into conflict triggers for adolescents and young people, can be hugely valuable in giving management at a school the confidence that staff (both teaching and non-teaching) have the tools to deal with behaviour confidently and effectively. 

On our courses we discuss the need for a ‘Showtime’ mindset to prepare for these critical moments, when the professionalism of the staff performance must shine through as they employ Redirections to deal with problem behaviour without escalating into direct conflict.

In our experience in helping many colleges and second-level institutions, it is pretty rare for secondary-level pupils to physically assault a member of staff.

Far more likely in this context is the problem of student-student violence, where a member of staff becomes aware of a physical encounter between two (or more!) students and realises, in a critical moment, that they may have to do something about the situation presented to them.

In situations like this, your staff really need to be standing on firm ground with respect to their Duty of Care:

• whose safety is a priority? 
• how to we prioritise action?
• must I physically intervene to show professionalism?
• could I stand back and still be upholding my duty of care?

These questions are absolutely critical to the safe resolution of ‘students fighting’ and taking time on a training day to investigate the issues and answer your team’s questions is really beneficial.

Managing the audience becomes a critical skill in these situations at Secondary Schools and Colleges and is a terrifically difficult cognitive and psychomotor skill! Being at the centre of a large group of very aroused teenagers, who are upset about their friends winning or losing a physical fight, shouting and swearing and wanting to get involved…it takes some pre-planned and practiced responses from staff and the only way to develop those skills is by carrying out the appropriate ‘fire drills’ with your team to see how things roll!

An issue  in our secondary environments is the growing threat of young people using edged weapons and knives to settle disagreements they have, or to climb a social hierarchy in a ‘status seeking’ display. 

From stories dating all the way back to the murder of London head teacher Philip Lawrence, the the more recent stories about supply teacher Victor Uzomah who was stabbed in Bradford and of course the murder of Ann Maguire in Leeds, we know that some school-age young people both carry knives to school and will potentially use them.

Coupled with this is the growing problem of gang affiliation and the status of knife-crime and knife-assault in the community. The fear of many head-teachers and Senior Leadership Teams is that community ‘beefs’ can spill onto school or college corridors. Incidents in the community on monday night can precipitate non-student intrusions on to school grounds, bringing violence and chaos to the safe learning environment we are trying to create.