Our Policies
Absconding
If a student is missing (not seen by any staff or coaches) then all staff/coaches must be notified immediately. An extensive search of all buildings and site grounds should be made by the session team with support if needed from facilities.
If they remain unaccounted for, the protocol below will be followed:
1. Time and place of the last sighting of the student to be established
2. If more than 30 minutes since the last sighting, a company director will be notified by phone, with a view of calling the Police to report MISPER (missing person)
3. Parents/guardians are informed by a Company Director if the police are called.
4. Upon return of student, parents/guardian.
5. Address issues regarding absconding, to be discussed at earliest opportunity with student, their family and staff/coaches.
6. A behaviour Support Plan may be put in place to highlight the risk of absconding.
If a student is on site and threatening to abscond then the following process will be followed:
1. Coaches/Staff should follow them to as far as the gate to the facilities, encouraging them to return to school. ● If they then go past the second gate staff will stop following but will continue to monitor them. As soon as they become out of sight a five-minute countdown will start.
2. If they haven’t returned after five minutes, staff/coaches return to reception and staff/coaches will report the student missing to Police and parents notified.
3. The two options for if restraint is needed is to be decided by the working staff/coaches:
a. Staff should not attempt to restrain these students attempting to leave the site given that these students are of an age and independence where they can manage themselves out in the community and a restraint is likely to cause an escalated risk to themselves or staff.
b. For all other students, staff will need to carry out a restraint to prevent them going past the first gate (gate closest to school building) due to the risk they pose to themselves if they were to leave site. If however the student does manage to get off site, staff should not follow beyond the second gate (gate closest to the road) and Police would then be called (process as outlined in Point 1).