Positive
Behaviour
Support

What is positive behaviour support (PBS)?

At Northern Counties we aim to deliver a school wide PBS approach. This means we enable staff and families to:

  • Understand the needs and behaviour of students, who (may) present with behaviours of concern and remain dependent on others to meet fundamental needs
  • To work together, in order to promote a meaningful quality of life, for both the person and those who care for them.

It is our goal to support every student in NCS to feel safe, happy and part of the community. We strive to achieve this by valuing student voice; supporting readiness for learning; promoting choice and improving quality of life in a meaningful way for each individual we support.

 

PBS at NCS

These ensure that each student has an embedded approach of the 4 key PBS principles: Promoting Quality of Life; Values Led; Understanding Behaviour and meeting needs; Making systems work for the individual.

We use a three-tier model (universal, targeted, specialist) within school to target our PBS support and intervention at an appropriate level for each students’ needs. These ensure that each student has an embedded approach of the 4 key PBS principles: Promoting Quality of Life; Values Led; Understanding Behaviour and meeting needs; Making systems work for the individual.

Restrictive Practice

What is restrictive practice?

Restrictive practice is making someone do something they don’t want to do or stopping someone doing something they want to do.

Any restriction needs to be appropriate, proportionate to the level of risk, and in the person’s best interest. Within school we always use the least restrictive option and details of your child’s strategies are written in their PBS plan or an individual risk assessment.

Who is responsible for reducing restrictive practices in school?

Everyone in school is responsible for working together to reduce the use of restrictions. Depending on the role of a staff member this may look very different, whether it is using the least restrictive option to support a student within any situation, or reviewing school wide practices.

The school also has an ongoing programme of positive behaviour support training for all staff working directly with students. The PBS framework seeks to improve quality of life and support staff to meet the individual needs of students. While this does not directly reference restrictive practice, the training given to staff helps to reduce the need for restrictions by supporting students to meet their needs without displaying behaviours of concern.

We are ensuring that our Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) and Restrictive Practice policies reflect current best practice guidelines from the Restraint Reduction Network (RRN) and Government papers and that our practice reflects these.