Becky Gillespie

ENGLAND - Families have raised fresh concerns about the ongoing use of seclusion rooms and injuries sustained by their children at Whitefield School in Walthamstow. The parents’ concerns come amid the ongoing fallout from an abuse scandal which saw 38 pupils subjected to physical and psychological abuse in so-called calming rooms between 2014 and 2017. walthamforestecho.co.uk/2026… #AgainstRestraint

Is as true today as it was on 2022.

100% agree. If staff at Whitefield School had worn body cameras, and if staff at the Hesley Group’s Fullerton House, Wilsic Hall and Wheatley House settings, and many other schools where serious concerns have since emerged, had worn body cameras, the public might have seen what so many vulnerable disabled children experienced. They would have seen children locked alone in seclusion rooms. They would have seen small disabled children held on the floor by multiple adults. They would have seen restraints where children were heard saying they could not breathe. They would also have seen the physical injuries families have reported, including broken bones, knocked-out teeth, bruising and other serious harm. At Hesley, an independent national safeguarding review found evidence of systematic and sustained physical abuse, emotional abuse, neglect, sexual harm, misuse of medication, repeated dangerous physical restraint, inappropriate confinement, deprivation of liberty and a culture that concealed abuse from authorities. The review examined the experiences of 108 disabled children placed there by 55 local authorities. Let us also remember who is most affected. ICARS’ research found that the majority of reported incidents involved very young children, many under the age of eight. Transparency protects everyone. It protects good teachers from false allegations, and it protects children when abuse or misconduct occurs. But any body camera system must meet the same evidential standard as police body-worn video. Footage should be automatically uploaded, securely encrypted, time-stamped, independently retained and protected from editing, deletion, selective disclosure or being conveniently “lost.” Meeting that standard across every classroom in England would cost the government millions upon millions of pounds. It would require secure national infrastructure, vast data storage, strict retention rules, independent oversight, audit trails and legally robust evidence-handling procedures. Anything less would simply leave schools in control of another set of records that could be withheld, selectively disclosed or claimed to have been lost when a child or family challenges what happened. So yes, let’s have transparency. Let’s have evidence that protects good teachers and protects children equally. The truth should never depend on leaked footage or a whistleblower. It should be preserved, independently secured and available when justice demands it.

Due to the number of requests from families who were unable to meet the original 2 August deadline, the ICARS United Nations Evidence Survey on the use of restraint, seclusion, isolation, removal rooms, use of force, recording failures, detriment and disability discrimination in schools will remain open until 2 September 2026. If your child has experienced any of these practices in an English school, we encourage you to share your evidence. Every submission strengthens the evidence presented to the United Nations and helps ensure these experiences cannot be dismissed as isolated incidents. Scan the QR code or use the link in the comments 👇

While England continues to expand these practices, US school districts have abandoned them, recognising the harm and discriminatory impact they have on children. Here is just one example taken from a New York Academy and their explanation of why it ended this authoritarian approach in 2020. nitter.cf/icarsbanrands/status/2…

There Is No Place Like Understanding Dottie’s journey represents what too many children and families experience. For too many children across England, life-threatening restraint, seclusion, isolation, and the physical and psychological injuries that follow are real. Will your child’s voice be heard by the UN? Follow Dottie’s journey, then complete the ICARS United Nations Evidence Survey. docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F… #AgainstRestraint #ThereIsNoPlaceLikeUnderstanding #PandemicOfPunishment

England - “The review concluded that the seclusion rooms represented “a significant safeguarding failure, raising serious concerns regarding the restriction of children’s liberty, emotional wellbeing and the ability of staff, leadership and governance of the school to recognise and respond appropriately to harmful practice”. #AgainstRestraint schoolsweek.co.uk/vulnerable…

WOW. Just when we thought we were nearly done gathering evidence for the United Nations, the EEF releases its new “inclusive teaching” framework. Calling integration “inclusion” does not make it inclusion. We imagine many other advocates across England now have pages and pages of notes, just like we do! schoolsweek.co.uk/inclusive-…