On occasions, some of our children display challenging behaviour that could put themselves, other children or staff at risk of harm or cause damage to school property. In these infrequent occasions staff might use their positive handling expertise to reduce risk. At Green Lane we use a system of positive handling called Team Teach to support children on such occasions. We ensure that all staff are trained in the use of de-escalation techniques, which form 95% of Team Teach methodology. The other 5% is concerned with the use of prompts, guides and holds. We currently have four Team Teach employed tutors on our staff, with two of our staff being Advanced tutors. Team Teach emphasises the use of positive handling as a last resort, to be used only when all other methods of de-escalation have been exhausted. Positive Handling covers the full range of de-escalation and positive behaviour management techniques employed by staff – from calm talking and other verbal and non-verbal methods, to guides and prompts to support a child in moving in the right direction or moving out of harm’s way. Occasionally more restrictive physical interventions may become necessary, on these occasions staff may hold a child to support them through their challenging behaviour.

   Team Teach is used:

• To promote the least intrusive positive handling strategy and a continuum of gradual and graded techniques, with an emphasis and preference for the use of verbal, non-verbal de-escalation strategies being used and exhausted before positive handling strategies are utilised.
• To enable our school to develop acceptable and authorised responses to disruptive, disturbing, angry and aggressive behaviours in a manner that maintains positive relationships and provides safety for all, by training in Team-Teach.
• To reduce the amount of serious incidents involving physical controls in all school and to emphasise the importance of exhausting behaviour management strategies in the first instance.
• To increase the awareness of staff concerning the importance of recording and reporting, monitoring and evaluating, all incidents involving positive handling.
• To provide a process of repair and reflection for both staff and children.

Key points of Team Teach

• Where possible, the expectation is that staff will exhaust all behavioural management strategies before they physically intervene. Where and when there is time, the physical interventions should be viewed as a "last resort option" for staff.
• Where a pupil requires repeated positive handling, the strategies and techniques will be planned for and agreed in advance. They will be written out and included in individual care/health/education / behaviour management plans.
• Physical techniques will not be taught in isolation.
• Team Teach emphasises positive relationships as being the key element in our work with children. The physical techniques can help to protect and maintain these relationships. "If you treat an individual as s/he is, s/he will remain as s/he is, if you treat her/him as if s/he were what s/he ought to be, s/he will become what s/he ought to be and what s/he could be" (Goethe 1749-1832)
• The physical techniques have sufficient range and robustness to be appropriate across the age and development range, for both the intentional and non-intentional "challenging" individual.
• The positive handling techniques provide a gradual, graded system of response commensurate with the situation, task and individuals involved, allowing for phasing up or down as dictated to by the circumstances at the time.
• The use of force will always be reasonable, proportionate and necessary.
• The aim of positive handling is for the person to calm down sufficiently so that staff can return the physical control and help find a better way.
• A calm approach with staff using (Communication, Awareness /Assessment Listening/Looking and Making Safe skills - CALM) is expected at all times when managing such situations.
• Staff will make a risk assessment, both before, during and after any serious incident involving positive handling.
• The training will aim to comply and work within "good practice" guidelines produced by government departments. Team Teach has been actively involved with consultation by government departments looking at "good practice" principles in this area. Training complies with the Human Rights Act.