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It’s the holidays so that means there’s been a debate on edutwitter. I’ve watched some conversations regarding the use of isolation rooms and think there may be some confusion. This is a very short post to explain my thoughts on this.
For me there are two types of isolation rooms. The first is easy to explain. They are in mainstream schools and are used for children and young people who have shown such behaviours that they have disrupted the learning of their peers. The teacher has found it nigh on impossible to teach the content of the lesson plan and the eventual result might be the offender is sent to an isolation room. These rooms are never (to my knowledge) locked and the child is never actually alone. There is always at least one staff member and very often other behaviour offenders. They are sent with work to complete and are a well used strategy as young people don’t actually like being separated from their friends. I’m not getting into a discussion about the use of these rooms. Schools will use whatever strategies work for them and it isn’t my place to comment.
The second type of isolation room is a very different affair. They may be situated in some special schools and APs and may have a locked door. They are generally called quiet rooms, calming rooms or chill out rooms. Whatever name is given to the room it is still an isolation room. This type of room is designed for one child and usually has no furniture except a beanbag and nothing on the walls. The idea behind this type of room is that an adult can be with the child while they regulate themselves. In this way the child can calm down and cannot hurt themselves or others during a meltdown. Again I’m not going to sit in judgement or pass comment on these rooms. Used correctly they can work well and schools need some strategies for full on sensory meltdowns. Of course, it goes without saying that a child should never be totally isolated in a room behind a locked door.
While you may not approve of the isolation referred to in mainstream schools I hope it is obvious that there is a world of difference between the two types of rooms.
cherrylkd 