Deputy Head Teacher Dismissed For Using Physical Intervention

Mr Kitchener, a Deputy Head Teacher, was dismissed from his £60,000 a year job for after he used physical intervention on an “out of control” pupil who hit him five times, kicked him and broke his glasses.

His employer, the academy trust, dismissed him on the grounds of gross misconduct on the basis that the use of force was not justified.

Mr Kitchener decided to sue the school trust for unfair dismissal.

Mr Kitchener Sues School and Wins Unfair Dismissal Case

He won his claim after an employment judge ruled the school had not trained him properly on the use of force .

The amount of compensation has yet to be decided but I think it will be in the hundreds of thousands of pounds mark for the wrongful dismissal, distress caused, legal costs etc.

You can read the full article here – ‘Victory for deputy head teacher sacked for restraining ‘out of control’ pupil who hit and kicked him as he wins unfair dismissal claim’.

Cases Like This Ruin People’s Lives, Waste Time and Cost a Lot of Money

Cases like this ruin innocent people’s lives, cause unnecessary distress and waste a lot of time and money.

And all of that could be avoided if:

Proper training was given;
Correct policies and procedures were in place;
Any initial investigation was done by people who understood the legalities surrounding the use of force.

I and former Director Mark Dawes have actually been involved in similar cases where a teacher has been disciplined in very similar circumstances.

In one case where we got involved to support the teacher all charges against him were dropped.

In another case a member of staff was being investigated by social services and they nearly lost their care home as a result. We stopped that from happening too.

This is because we actively offer support to anyone we train.

And we’ve provided this support for people we’ve trained who also work in the healthcare, care and security sectors too.

Oh, and by the way, we do this free of charge too.

Now many of you will know Mark Dawes, the previous owner of NFPS Ltd.

But you may not know me, or at least my background and experience.

So here’s a brief overview of me for you.

Who is Trevel Henry

I am a long established trainer and consultant.

I was the former head of training for a major Police Service, so I have experience in not only delivering training but experience in developing, reviewing, evaluating and auditing training too.

Whilst working there I was regularly asked by the complaints and discipline unit to review disciplinary cases, many of which involved the use of force.

I am a highly respected Expert Witness on the Use of Reasonable Force in the UK and overseas.

I have done over three hundred expert witness cases.

I have worked on high profile cases where restraint related issues have been a key factor, involving the police, prison, security, schools, care setting, NHS and young people’s services.

But what does this mean to you.

It means that NFPS Ltd (of which I am one of the new Directors) can provide training for you that is legally defensible.

This continues the legacy started by Mark Dawes.

The Problem With Physical Intervention Training

The problem is that nowadays organisations just seem to be looking for anyone that can provide certain ‘certification’, without doing any further checks.

And you have to ask yourself this question – Why do some individuals and training providers sign up for these certification schemes?

It’s simple really.

They don’t have the experience, expertise, authority and trust to get business on their own merit.

Hiding Behind Physical Intervention Certification

So they hide behind the veil of certification to cover up and obscure their lack of those qualities.

And guess what?

When things go wrong no ‘certification’ will help you in court!

As I’ve mentioned I’ve been involved in hundreds of expert witness cases.

In every one of them, both criminal and civil, no standard of certification was asked for.

Why?

Simple really.

A criminal court is interested in whether or not the use of force used was reasonable in the circumstances.

In civil cases, the court is looking to see whether the claimant can prove negligence against the defendant.

So certification can be (and generally is) a complete waste of time.

And certification isn’t the same as proper ‘accreditation’ either.

This Is What’s Most Important With Regards To Physical Intervention Training

What is most important is the experience, expertise, authority, trust and competence of your chosen training provider.

Especially when it comes to the use of physical intervention.

Because physical intervention is a very contentious issue.

This is why we put our money where our mouth is and offer to support those we train.

And let me tell you something else.

You Should Want A Training Provider Who Will Turn Up To Support You

In all of the expert witness cases I’ve been involved with not once has a training provider (apart from NFPS Ltd) shown up in court to support the person they trained.

In fact many do the opposite.

They’ll claim that the person under investigation didn’t do the technique properly as it is shown in the manual.

The reason why?

They’d rather throw the individual under the bus then lose the training contract.

With us we’d rather lose the training contract than help throw a decent person under the bus.

The Solution To The Problem

The problem is finding the right provider – and finding the time to do this.

When you train with us you will receive a proper accredited qualification.

A BTEC Level 3 Award in Physical Restraint Instruction.

Issued by one of the largest Educational Awarding Organisations in the world.

We Were The First

NFPS Ltd was the first ever training provider to write BTEC Awards in this area.

Many have tried to copy what NFPS did, but there’s one there’s one thing they can’t copy!

That is our Experience, Expertise, Authority, Honesty, Trust, Integrity and Support.

So, if you are interested in becoming a competent and experienced trainer, with the back-up and support you may well need one day, talk to us.

We Will Be There For You Long After The Training Has Ended

There’s nothing worse than using physical force and then being accused of something and having no-one around to support you who knows what they are talking about.

We’ll be there for you long after the training has ended.

I also promise that we won’t try and ‘sell’ you a place on a course either.

Our primary concern is that you get the right training to suit your needs.

You making the right decision for you is our only priority.

We don’t want you to end up in a situation like Mr Kitchener, the Deputy Head Teacher who we wrote about at the beginning of this post.

That’s not a nice place to be at all.

We want you to be safe in the knowledge that you have had legally defensible physical intervention training from very competent instructors with support systems in place should you ever need to call on us.

To find out more contact us at – https://nfps.info/contact-nfps/ and let’s arrange to talk.

Best Regards

Trevel Henry

Director, NFPS Ltd

PS: If you are an organisation and you have a situation where you don’t know whether you should take disciplinary action against a member of staff or not for using physical intervention or self-defence because you don’t understand the complexities of reasonable force then please feel free to get in touch.

We have the experience and expertise to advise you from a very competent perspective, which can save you a lot of time and money, especially if you get it wrong as in the case mentioned in this article.

That’s an investment worth considering.

To make an enquiry contact us at – https://nfps.info/contact-nfps/ and let’s arrange to talk.