National Minimum Standards for Residential Special Schools

1.	Statement of the schools purpose
2.	Children's rights
3.	Child protection
4.	Care and control
5.	Quality of care
6.	Planning for care
7.	Premises
8.	Staff
9.	Management

3. Child protection.

Children resident at a school should be protected from abuse and an appropriate response is made to any allegation or suspicion of abuse.

Anti-bullying. The school should have an anti-bulling policy that staff and children know about. Children should help with the development of this policy. Children who are bullied are given support; those who bully are given guidance. Staff should be aware of the times and places in a school where the risk of bullying taking place is high and take action to reduce this risk.

Running away. Children who run away are responded to positively on their return. When children do return they are seen, if they wish, by the person in charge, to try and find out why they ran away. These reasons should be considered in relation to how they are cared for and what actions the school can take to prevent any further incidents.

Staff should be aware of what they can do to stop a child from trying to run away and not exceed these measures.

Incidents of children running away should be monitored. Patterns should prompt a review of how the school are caring for that child.