Service I
Governance Check
Governors are now expected to review restraint and suspension data. Do our records show what the 2026 guidance requires, and does the board see what it should each term?
A short, independent check of a sample of your records against the DfE guidance on restrictive interventions (in force from April 2026), on suspensions and exclusions (July 2026), with a quick cross check of the part time timetable register, written for the head and the chair. For trusts, the same check across several schools, with a report trustees can read and a termly oversight scheme so the board sees the right things.
What it covers
- Policy against the guidance in force
- Incident records, parent notification and debriefs
- Suspensions and the support and adjustments considered first
- The part time timetable register as a cross check: how many pupils, end dates in place, and none used to manage behaviour. Not a review of individual arrangements
- Patterns across pupil groups, including SEND, disadvantage and protected characteristics
- What governors or trustees see each term
What you will have at the end
- School: a two page note for head and chair, with what is missing, what to fix this half term and what to put to governors
- Trust: a trustee readable report plus a termly oversight scheme, what each school records and what the board sees
- Each point marked as a statutory requirement or recommended practice
- A summary paragraph ready for the governors' minutes
Scope and limits
A sample, not an audit. Records are read on site or on your own system, no copies leave the school, and I give no opinion on whether any use of force was lawful. Checked against the DfE guidance in force when the check takes place, and against two practical questions: are incidents analysed, and are part time timetables short term with an end date.
Why me
Why this is work I can do.
Over ten years as a designated safeguarding lead, three years running a special school where restraint recording, debriefs and governor reporting happened every week, and a year reading other schools' records as an outsider, which taught me what they look like from the other side of the table. For several years I was an advanced MAPA trainer and trained hundreds of staff in de escalation and physical intervention, so I read a restraint record knowing what was happening in the room. I no longer deliver that training.
Questions
Questions schools ask.
Is this an audit?
No. It is a sample of records chosen with you, read against the guidance. It tells you what is missing and what to fix. It does not investigate any incident, judge any member of staff, or give a view on lawfulness.
Do you look at individual pupils?
No. I look at how incidents are recorded, how parents are told, how pupils and staff are debriefed and what the board sees. Records stay in school and names stay out of my notes.
How do schools fund it?
Usually from the core budget, because meeting the guidance is an existing duty. Some schools use the Inclusive Mainstream Fund, which allows specialist advice on policy and planning. Your school decides the funding line.
What does it cost?
One rate for everyone: £700 a day, shown inside every fee. A primary school is one day, £700. A secondary school is one and a half days, £1,050. A trust buys days against a one page scope with a cap, usually four to five days for four to six schools. No VAT is charged.
Do you work with special schools and alternative provision?
Yes, for this check. The duties on recording, parent notification and governor oversight are the same, and the fee is the same. For anything beyond the check, we talk first.
Is travel included?
Travel within the North East is included in the fee. Further afield, travel and any overnight stay are quoted as a fixed amount in the proposal, so you know the full cost before you agree.
Other services
Let's talk
Twenty minutes is usually enough to know whether a review would help.
If it would not, I will say so, and point you to free support instead.
Book a 20 minute call (opens booking page in a new tab)