Schools - violent, aggressive and dangerous behaviour: risk assessment guidance

Status of the guidance

This non-statutory guidance takes an evidence-based approach and aims to provide clarity to local authorities and educational settings on appropriately using risk assessment processes to mitigate or minimise violent, aggressive, and dangerous behaviours exhibited by children and young people^[1] at school. These considerations are taken in the context of the culture, systems, and practices within schools, recognising that everyone including visitors, are to be safe and protected from dangerous or violent incidents.

The guidance is provided to support local authorities and schools in their consideration of risks associated with violent, aggressive, and dangerous behaviour in schools.^[2]

Local authorities and education settings regularly utilise risk assessments to understand and plan for the risks which arise as part of the organisation and management of a school and its functions. This includes the specific assessment of risk undertaken by employers in relation to the health and safety of employees and others in schools. The term ‘risk assessment’ is used to capture the broader assessment of risks, in this context as it relates to violent, aggressive and dangerous behaviour, whereas references to health and safety risk assessment relate to those specific risk assessments associated with health and safety legislation (see Appendix 1).

Please note that the following areas are not considered to be regulated by health and safety legislation:

• children’s behaviour – addressed by relationships and behaviour policies
• child protection – addressed by national guidance

These areas are addressed by each setting’s relationships and behaviour policy aligned to national guidance on Fostering a positive, inclusive and safe school environment, and national guidance on child protection. Risk assessment processes will, at times, overlap and be interdependent on these areas as part of a continuum of support and staged intervention.

Key considerations in using this guidance:

Risk assessment processes concerning a particular child’s behaviour are not required, or appropriate, in all circumstances. They should only be applied in situations where there is a foreseeable risk of harm occurring or a pattern of behaviour that causes, or is likely to cause, harm to self or others.

Risk assessment processes should always be considered in the context of the wider assessment of a child’s needs, support planning processes, and staged intervention.

Key terms used in this guidance are set out in Appendix 7.