Aggressive and Violent Behaviour 2025 - 2028

POLICY STATEMENT

The Governing Body of St John the Baptist Catholic Primary School encourages close links with parents and the community. It believes that pupils benefit when the relationship between home and school is a positive one.

The vast majority of parents, carers and others visiting our school are keen to work with us and are supportive of the school. However, on the rare occasions when a negative attitude towards the school is expressed, this can result in aggression, verbal and/or physical abuse towards members of school staff or the wider school community.

The Governing Body expects and requires its members of staff to behave professionally in these difficult situations and attempt to defuse the situation where possible, seeking the involvement as appropriate of other colleagues. However, all members of staff have the right to work without fear of violence and abuse, and the right, in an extreme case, of appropriate self-defence.

We expect parents and other visitors to behave in a reasonable way towards members of school staff. This policy outlines the steps that will be taken where behaviour is unacceptable.

The School will undertake to ensure compliance with the relevant legislation with regard to the requirements and responsibilities in relation to the management, prevention and reporting of aggressive and violent behaviour involving pupils, staff and visitors. It will ensure best practice and extend the arrangements as far as is reasonably practicable to others who may also be affected by our activities.

THE LAW

As legislation is often amended and regulations introduced, the references made in this policy may be to legislation that has been superseded. For an up-to-date list of legislation applying to schools, please refer to the government website www.gov.uk and the Health and Safety Executive website www.hse.gov.uk.

• Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
• Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations 1999.
• Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences. Regulations 2003 (RIDDOR).

DEFINITIONS

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) defines work-related violence as:

“ ‘Any incident in which a person is abused, threatened or assaulted in circumstances relating to their work.’

It is important to remember that this can include:

• verbal abuse or threats, including face to face, online and via telephone
• physical attacks

This might include violence from members of the public, customers, clients, patients, service users and students towards a person at work.

For violence to be work-related, it must be in connection with the work activity. For example, the following situations would not be included in this definition:

• personal disputes between workers and other people, such as family members
• violence between people not at work, such as customers or service users”

At this school, we do not tolerate:

• Aggressive physical contact towards staff or children, which may or may not result in pain or injury.
• Other non-physical aggressive behaviour directed towards staff or children including;

• Verbal abuse, in person or by phone
• Intimidating behaviour causing fear or concern
• Sexual or racial harassment
• Cyberbullying. (E.g. aggression or threats using email, internet or text messaging services, social media).

• Violence to any property which may encompass a range of behaviour including;

• Throwing a small item e.g. cup, pens, book
• Destruction or ransacking of a building
• Damage to personal or school property

Types of behaviour that are considered serious, unacceptable and will not be tolerated:

• Shouting at members of the school staff, either in person or over the telephone;
• Shouting and aggressive behaviour in front of pupils
• Physically intimidating a member of staff, e.g. standing very close to her/him;
• The use of aggressive hand gestures;
• Threatening behaviour;
• Shaking or holding a fist towards another person;
• Swearing;
• Pushing;
• Hitting, e.g. slapping, punching and kicking;
• Spitting;
• Breaching the school’s security procedures.

This is not an exhaustive list but seeks to provide illustrations of such behaviour. Unacceptable behaviour may result in the local authority and the police being informed of the incident.

​​​​​​​ASSESSING AND MANAGING THE RISKS

THE Health and Safety at Work Act places a legal duty on employers to ensure, so far as reasonably practicable, the health, safety, and welfare of workers. This includes protecting them from work-related violence.

The Headteacher will ensure that:

• Planning for the avoidance of violence is undertaken in consultation with staff.
• Where a potential violent situation is identified, a risk assessment (Annex J) is undertaken and kept up to date.

• In consultation with staff, actions are to taken to prevent or mitigate violent situations as identified by:

• Instances when they have been or may be afraid.
• As a result of previous or potentially violent situations or
• In risk assessments.

• Staff are fully informed.
• Violent Incident Report forms (Annex A) are completed and dealt with in accordance with the Reporting Procedure (section 8).

The governors will:

• Monitor violent incident records termly
• Discuss potential patterns or new risks with the headteacher
• Take action to minimize risk as far as reasonably possible

RECOGNISING POTENTIAL VIOLENCE

• Recognising the potential for violence is often possible. At other times, it will be more difficult as may not be premeditated or have an obvious cause. The analysis of any previous Violent Incident Reports (Annex A) can identify useful indicators of potential triggers and patterns of violent incidents.

• Whenever there is the potential for a violent or aggressive incident, a risk assessment must be carried out and recorded as a legal requirement, and action taken to reduce the risk to a tolerable level that is as low as reasonably practicable. The risk assessment must identify risks from all sources including staff, pupils, pupil’s family and friends, and visitors or other parties that have the potential to become involved.

• Factors associated with violence include isolation, stress, frustration, fear and experiences of violence in a person's past, especially in childhood.  Contributory factors include the effects of alcohol and certain drugs.

• Situations involving sanctions are potential triggers of a violent reaction. These can include a move to prevent injury or even a misinterpreted move to provide comfort.

• Some psychotic states are associated with violence, and some physical illnesses can sometimes cause a person to react violently.

• All threats must be treated seriously.

• If Physical Intervention is to be used, it should only be as part of an overall strategy and used only in accordance with the Physical Intervention Policy.

PREVENTION OF VIOLENCE

• Staff must feel secure in their work and this is to be facilitated by safe working practices, for example, by the proximity of a 'stand by' person, by pre-arranged interruptions, effective lone working systems or by the use of walkie talkies in classes with known disruptive pupils as well as by alarm systems in upper level classrooms. These should be identified as control measures in risk assessments. Response is to be tested on a periodic basis to ensure that it works effectively.

• Staff working alone, including making visits to pupils’ homes, must follow school practices and procedures. They must never visit a pupil’s home on their own.

• Objects with the potential to be used as weapons must not be left lying around. Staff must also be aware that the wearing of items such as neck chains, pendant earrings, body jewellery etc. may increase the possibility of personal injury. The school will provide lanyards for staff identification badges which have quick-release safety catches. Staff must be aware that choosing to use their own lanyard comes with risk.

• Preferably, staff should not be left alone without the ability of raising an alarm, but where this is unavoidable other equally effective methods of reducing the risks must be considered.

• All callers arriving at or telephoning the school must always be treated with courtesy, and waiting time must be kept to a minimum in order to reduce impatience or potentially violent situations.    

• Staff should have an awareness and, where appropriate, be trained in the use of non-threatening postures and the value of maintaining physical distance from an aggressive source. The de-escalation techniques, including tone of voice and body language, taught during Educational Psychologist or Primary Behaviour Service CPD are often transferable to situations with adults.

HANDLING AN AGGRESSIVE INCIDENT

The following points of practice may help to defuse a potentially violent situation. The list is not exhaustive and other actions may be necessary and equally appropriate.

Control of the Situation

• When violence is threatened, staff should attempt to keep control of the situation.
• Staff should communicate calmly with the violent person throughout the incident. They should use non-threatening verbal and body language to show that they are not acting out of anger, frustration or a desire to punish.
• Attempts should be made to discuss with the violent person his or her frustrations and problems.
• Assistance from other staff may be summoned. Any other pupils or adults in the vicinity who are at risk must be encouraged to move somewhere safe.

Safety of People

• Physical safety of people is more important than the security of buildings or cash. There will be occasions when staff will need to retreat and help others to retreat to a safe distance, but only when this does not increase the risk of injury to any other person. Such decisions are not easy and are to be based on the balance of risks to all parties involved.
• In the case of pupils they should not leave the pupil alone. They should also ensure that a pupil does not feel trapped. That can involve offering the pupil alternatives such as:

• Coming with the staff member to a quiet room away from bystanders so that the staff member can hear the pupil’s concerns,
• Sitting down and having a drink of water,
• Being joined by a particular member of staff well known to the pupil
• Being joined by a friend or family member.

Physical Intervention

One of the difficulties with which staff have to come to terms, is the decision whether or not to use physical intervention. Very occasionally, and as a last resort, physical intervention may be necessary although many people may feel uncomfortable about intervening in this way. If all else fails, physical intervention may help to control a violent or dangerous situation but it must be employed with minimum force and in accordance with any training received and in strict adherence to the Physical Intervention Policy.

Physical Intervention is recorded in accordance to the Physical Intervention Policy:

• Using the PI form on CPOMS
• Reviewed by the Headteacher on CPOMS
• Reviewed by the SENCO and used to update IBMP
• Parents are informed by the Key Stage Lead/SENCO
• Forms are monitored by a governor and trends are reported termly to governing body.

Members of the Public

Unless unavoidable, members of the public should not be involved in controlling an incident. Colleagues can immediately be requested to help, as appropriate, and police may then be summoned if circumstances dictate their presence.

Support

If a member of staff is assaulted or is threatened with assault, the following action will be taken:

• The employee will be allowed to access a private area for as long as necessary following the incident.
• The employee’s line manager and the head teacher should be informed of the incident as soon as possible. The head teacher must inform the governing body of the incident.
• The incident will be recorded, as soon as possible after the incident, in line with the procedures set out in this policy.
• Where required, medical treatment will be sought for the employee. The school’s designated first aider will be asked to provide assistance, and further medical treatment assessment sought as necessary (e.g. at hospital or from their GP).
• In the case of physical injuries, photos should be taken if possible and only with permission of the injured member of staff.
• The employee should also be encouraged to seek an appointment from the school’s occupational health provider. Occupational health assistance should be sought following both physical and verbal assaults, as there may be stress and anxiety arising from an incident.
• Counselling must be offered. (HCC counselling/support for employees at: Employee Support Line.
• The head teacher (or an appointed governor) is responsible for ensuring written statements are taken from the employee, any witnesses, and the assailant (where applicable) as soon as possible following the incident.
• The head teacher will investigate the incident or will delegate this responsibility to a member of the SLT. A report will be produced following the investigation and agreed with the employee. If the assault is being reported to the police, they will also receive a copy of the report.
• Following the incident, the risk assessment will be reviewed by the head teacher, in conjunction with the governing body. In cases where the assault was carried out by a pupil, an individual pupil risk assessment will be undertaken. Reference will need to be made to other policies including those addressing pupil behaviour, school security and safeguarding.

Reporting.    

• Any implement used in an attack must be retained, provided this can be done without causing further difficulty or risk of added injury.
• A review of all the aspects of a violent incident, including a decision on any action to be taken against the aggressor or any plans for working with the aggressive party, must be decided upon and an action plan must be devised, implemented and locally recorded as appropriate.
• The question of police involvement and prosecution must be given early consideration by the Headteacher, taking advice from HCC Children’s Services as required.
• Violent incidents must be reported and recorded at the earliest opportunity (section 8).

​​​​​​​REPORTING PROCEDURE

If a parent/carer behaves in an unacceptable way towards a member of the school community:

• As soon as practicable, staff must report the incident to the Headteacher who will advise on the appropriate action. Staff may, where appropriate, wish to be accompanied by a friend or representative.
• The Headteacher, or appropriate senior member of staff will seek to resolve the situation through discussion and mediation.
• If necessary, the school’s complaints procedures should be followed.
• Where all procedures have been exhausted, and aggression or intimidation continue, or where there is an extreme act of violence, a parent or carer may be banned by the Headteacher from the school premises for a period of time, subject to review.
• In imposing a ban the following steps will be taken:

1. The parent/carer will be informed, in writing, that she/he is banned from the premises, subject to review, and what will happen if the ban is breached, e.g. that police involvement, or an injunction application may follow.
2. Where an assault has led to a ban, a statement indicating that the matter has been reported to the local authority and the police will be included.
3. The Chair of Governors/Local Authority will be informed of the ban.
4. Where appropriate, arrangements for pupils being delivered to, and collected from the school gate will be clarified.

• All Violent Incidents are reported using Violent Incident Report (VIR) Form (Annex A).

• Reporting of all violent incidents ensures that staff are aware of such incidents and that appropriate action has been taken to support those involved and reduce the risk of a similar incident occurring in the future.
• Records of all violent incidents are required to meet all legislative requirements and to enable the monitoring of trends, whilst assisting in determining policy direction and ensuring the effective targeting of training resources.
• Staff should be aware that teams and units submitting VIRs are not viewed as problem areas or as poorly managed, but rather as taking the appropriate and responsible approach which is to be strongly encouraged. Staff should always be strongly encouraged to complete the VIR form and under no circumstances should they be discouraged from completing a VIR form following a violent incident
• The Headteacher and member(s) of staff, together, will complete the VIR form as soon as practically possible following the incident. This is in addition to the completion of any other related documentation including reporting in accordance with the Incident and Investigation policy.

• VIR forms are to be actioned/forwarded in accordance with the ‘Routing Instructions’ on the VIR form itself which are as follows:

• Challenging Behaviour Risk Assessments (pupils only) should be reviewed and new procedures implemented within 5 working days
• Original VIR Form will be stored securely by the Headteacher with other VIR records, not with personnel files.
• A member of the governing body will monitor the VIR forms termly.

​​​​​​​ADDITIONAL SUPPORT & ADVICE

Staff suffering from shock or injury as a result of a violent incident must seek medical advice and are to be encouraged to contact the Employee Support Line for counselling. Appropriate assistance is to be provided to a member of staff after an assault, for example by home visiting, escorting to the doctor or awaiting a doctor's visit, and to ensure appropriate sensitivity when informing relatives or friends (as discussed or agreed) etc.

The Headteacher, acting on behalf of, and with the consent of the member(s) of staff, may decide to inform the police of any incident or assault which occurs whilst carrying out official duties. Under certain circumstances staff may not wish the police to be informed and although that wish will be taken into account, the school has a responsibility to protect staff and, in the event of a serious offence, the police may have to be informed. The Headteacher will seek appropriate specialist advice from Children’s Services Health and Safety Team and the legal section as dictated by the circumstances at the time of the incident. 

If the police decide not to prosecute, the individual has a right to proceed with a private action.

Staff have the right to report the matter personally to the police and should inform the Headteacher if they decide to do so.

If staff wish to pursue a claim through the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority, (CICA), they must apply in accordance with guidance at Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority.

The Employee Support Line is available to all staff who are victims of a violent incident. It was originally set up to support staff who had been involved in incidents of violence or abuse and offers confidential support, advice and counselling to all staff within Hampshire County Council.

TRAINING

• All staff who may have contact with members of the public, either face-to-face or by telephone, must be made aware of this policy as part of their local induction/in-service training and in particular ‘Prevention of Violence’ (section 6).

• If a Risk Assessment identifies control measures that require staff training, the Headteacher is to investigate with HCC Children’s Services the provision of suitable training courses.

• The School Business Manager will maintain a record of all instruction and training given to members of staff.