Minimising the use of physical restraint
Schools face challenging situations with students from time to time.
All school staff must know what to do when these situations arise.
Sometimes challenging situations can put the student (or those around them) at risk of harm.
In these situations, it may be necessary to physically restrain the student.
However, when schools have good policies and procedures in place, the risk of harm and the need for physical restraint can be reduced.
What is physical restraint, who can use it, and when?
Physical restraint is using force to prevent, restrict, or subdue the movement of the whole or part of a student's body against the student's will.
It is a severe intervention and should only be used as a last resort.
Its use is limited to teachers and authorised staff members and only when:
- Physical restraint is necessary to prevent imminent harm to the student or another person.
- It is part of an ongoing support plan for that student.
- The authorised staff member reasonably believes there is no other option.
- The physical restraint is reasonable and proportionate.
Note: Authorised staff members are usually teacher aides, learning assistants, or anyone working directly with students who have written authorisation from their employer (your board) to use physical restraint if necessary.
If you are authorising a staff member, they must have completed the training outlined below before being authorised.
The decision to authorise non-teaching staff is a board decision (as the employer).
All teaching staff have automatic authorisation but must have completed the compulsory training module first.
We suggest that the principal recommends to the board those staff member(s) who require authorisation, along with evidence that they have completed the necessary training, for the board to approve.
What does the law say?
The Education (Physical Restraint) Rules 2024open_in_new came into force on 7 February 2025.
The key changes from the 2023 rules are:
- Employers must make sure that all new, beginning, and overseas teachers complete the required online resource within 10 weeks of starting at your school (Minimising physical restraint in schools – rules and guidelinesopen_in_new).
What is your board's role?
Your board must have policies and processes that align with the 2024 requirements and monitor the application of these policies.
Your policies and procedures should do all the following:
- Focus on reducing effects and improving outcomes for students
- Set out any delegation of responsibility to the principal
- Include a process for managing complaints.
All board policies must be available to parents, caregivers, students, school staff, and the school community.
The principal's report to your board should include data on physical restraint – including instances, matters or risks relating to the policy, assurances of teacher and authorised staff training.
Your board can then monitor the use of physical restraint, looking for trends and possible governance actions that could support reducing such incidents.
Examples of possible governance actions include policy changes, funding staff professional learning and development, and extra resourcing.
Questions your board could ask
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Do we have a policy on the use of physical restraint?
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When are we due to review our physical restraint policy?
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Has the principal asked our board to authorise any non-teaching staff members to use physical restraint, and have they completed the necessary training in physical restraint holds that is required prior to board authorisation?
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Has the principal provided our board with assurance that all teaching staff have undertaken the required training within 10 weeks of being employed?
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Are we assured that all teaching staff who have a high likelihood of using physical restraint on a student completed the necessary physical restraint hold training?
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Have we made sure that our school community have access to the guidelines, the names and positions of any authorised staff members, as well as our school policy on reducing student distress and the use of physical restraint?
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Are any incidents and risks included in the principal's report at every board meeting?
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Are there any trends that indicate we might need to act at a governance level?
Templates, resources, and references
Click on the link(s) below to access this topic’s templates, resources, and references.
Depending on your device, these may download or open in a separate browser.
Ministry of Education
- Minimising physical restraint in schools – rules and guidelinesopen_in_new
- Education (Physical Restraint) Rules 2024open_in_new
- Community portalopen_in_new
- Physical restraint incident reportingopen_in_new
- Aramai He Tētēkura – Physical Restraint Guidelinesopen_in_new
- Aramai He Tētēkura – A learning resource to understand distress and minimise physical restraintopen_in_new