The NFPS Restraint & Breakaway Instructors Qualifying Course is our ‘Flagship’ course. It is the pride of our fleet so to speak and over the last 5 years over 500 people have benefited from qualifying with us.

As an organisation we pride ourselves on our integrity and commitment to personal and professional excellence and we are proud to say that this course promotes those values through the course design and delivery.

This course is a ‘learner-led’ course.  What this means is that it has evolved over time, based on the feedback from individuals like you, to suit how individuals learn in a physical skill environment.

Based on robust yet flexible risk assessment methodology the course delivers a safe yet pragmatic approach to physical restraint instruction, and we are proud to say that in all of the years that we have been training we have never had a major injury, so you can be safe in the knowledge that by attending this event you are not likely be injured. In addition, our commitment to health and safety in the workplace has allowed us to develop training systems that not only allow restraint to be undertaken appropriately and effectively in the workplace, but also in systems that eliminate and reduce the risks associated with restraint, such as positional asphyxia.

Physical restraint is an emotive and contentious issue at the best of times and with that in mind we have taken lots of steps to ensure that every aspect of the course can be justified. That is why Mark Dawes, one of the lead coaches and author of two books on the subject, is today considered to be one of the UK’s foremost experts on the subject of physical restraint resulting in him being used extensively in a consultative capacity and also as an expert witness in court.

We are sure that you will enjoy this course. It may be the first step in the beginning of a new chapter in your life or it may be that you are considering attending to enhance what you already know about the subject. Either way, this course is both suited to the novice and the more experienced, and as past evidence has shown, all who have attended have benefited from coming along.

Let’s hope that you make the decision that will possibly change the direction of your life.

We constantly receive enquiries from many individuals who ask us whether or not they need a teaching qualification as a pre-requisite to attending our Restraint and Breakaway Instructors Qualifying Course.

In short, the answer is no. You do not need a qualification as a pre-requisite to attend our Restraint and Breakaway Instructors Qualifying Course - furthermore; we will provide you with a qualification once you have attended it!

As such the course does not exclude individuals who do not have an academic qualification recognized by an educational awarding body or a physical education or coaching qualification. However, it is a requirement of the course that all participants will be required to instruct and coach others and therefore it would be beneficial if those attending already have a degree of competence and / or experience in this area.

You should be aware however, that certain industry sectors, such as the Security Industry, will require you to have a teaching qualification before you can teach restraint and / or breakaway to door supervisors and security officers.

It is good practice however, to have a recognized teaching qualification in addition to the Trainers Award. As such we can offer you additional training to achieve the new PTLS Level 4 Award. 

Unlike many of the other providers teaching these Awards we are unique in its construction and delivery.

Learning in isolation

One of the main bits of feedback that we got from people we meet who had to acquire the old 7302, 7303 and 7407, was that what they learnt had no relevance to them in relation to the courses they had to deliver. In short, they did the old 7302, 7303 and 7407 as ‘stand-alone’ courses just to get the qualification. In other words, they had to get the old qualifications to teach, so it became a ‘tick in the box’ exercise for many. This meant that for many the learning experience that the old qualifications were meant to install why iswas not retained and therefore soon forgotten, because the old qualifications were not taught in a specific context that made it easily understandable or relevant to the learner. This meant that people could not (or did not) apply the learning acquired in the training qualification in the professional courses that they were expected to deliver once qualified.

Learning in Context - Why we are different.

By developing the new PTLLS Award around the context of teaching a Physical Skill (Restraint & Breakaway) it becomes a much more valuable learning experience as people can experience how it works when applied in a specific context. This makes learning much more enjoyable – and measurable – and retainable.

Our courses are held at the magnificent Lilleshall National Sports Centre, near Telford, Shropshire. Originally built in 1831 as the hunting lodge and family retreat of the Earl of Sutherland, Lilleshall Hall, now known as Lilleshall National Sports Centre, is a flagship training venue and a National Centre of Excellence.

Each person has their own room that includes a tv and tea and coffee making facilities. The beautiful environment also allows you to relax by taking advantage of the beautiful grounds and gardens when not in the seminar.

There is a wide range of food provided to appeal to anyone, with menus designed to allow healthy eating whilst not skimping on how much you wish to eat! The hot meals are complemented by fresh salads and fruit and a wide range of drinks all included as part of the price – it’s like going to a health farm but without the extortionate prices!!

Our Instructors Qualifying Course and our PTLLS Level 4 Course are both 5 Day Residential Courses. We normally start on a Monday either at 10am or midday (depending on what course you are on) and we aim to finish at around midday on the Friday.

No. If you live locally or if you have child care commitments then you are free to commute to and from your home to Lilleshall. However, you should note that on the Instructors course we do work late (up until 9pm) on the Monday and Tuesday evening.

Also, as the courses are pretty intensive you have to be on time for each session and, because it is a course that involves ongoing assessment, it will not do you any favours if you are late as you will miss work that you going to be assessed on.

Also, as a potential Instructor you need to be setting an example, and arriving late isn’t the example we want Instructors qualified through us setting.

Unfortunately there is no discount on the price for staying off site. The cost is a fully inclusive cost which covers the hall-hire, all meals, teas and coffees at breaks, all the instructional material and certification. When you consider all of that the cost we charge is extremely good value.

No. One of the major inhibitors to learning is ‘Fear of Exams’ and we recognise and understand, from the continual monitoring we do, that many people worry about sitting exams.

To combat this we have developed an assessment methodology based on a combination of reflective learning and summative assessment. This means that instead of sitting one large final exam we will work with you to break down what you need to learn into bite-sized chunks. BY doing this we can work with you and assess you a bit at a time through a combined process of observed performance, question and answer sessions and case study scenarios, which we find, assists people as opposed to hindering them.

MOST DEFINITELY NOT! Our courses are professionally run and aimed at those individuals seeking to become professionally competent in this area of professional responsibility. The training is structured around a well tested and quality managed business model. The aim of this course is to provide you with a competent and professionally structured programme of achievement suitable to your needs.

We are aware that some of the more General training service providers still run military ‘boot-camp’ style training sessions, making people do extensive warm-ups and exhaustive gym work. We do not do that. 

The course does require you to be in reasonable physical condition. You do not have to be a paragon of fitness but you will be required to have the physical capability to undertake the activity and to be able to instruct the activity. Therefore, if you do have any physical impairment which you feel may compromise your ability to undertake the course please seek the advice of a medical professional before attending.

We have actually qualified individuals who have prosthetic limbs due to amputation. We do not discriminate on any grounds, however, we do promote good Health and Safety at the core of our training provision.

That means that if you have the potential ability we will do our utmost to nurture and grow it into qualified potential.

The most important thing you probably have to consider are the RESULTS you hope to get. The question really is WILL IT WORK? Have you ever been on a training course where you have learned new behaviours or new skills but have not come back and implemented them? If so this is probably because you didn't believe that you could do it.

What is different with our training is that we not only work on teaching you new skills and abilities - we also help you work on your belief system so that you have new beliefs that will not only empower you to teach when you return, but may even change you life for the better.

However, we don't stop there. We also give you new improved and more positive values in what we teach you so that you value your new knowledge. By having new values you will be better motivated to put into practice what you have learned. To help you do this we provide you with systematic systems of work including all the presentations and documentation that you will need to run your courses based on our successfully proven quality management system.

"Entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem", is the principle that "entities must not be multiplied beyond necessity" and is known as ‘Ockham’s Razor and is attributed to 14th-century English logician and Franciscan friar, William of Ockham. He figured out 600 years ago the need to Keep it Simple. What this basically means is that the simplest explanation or strategy tends to be the best one.

The system of physical restraint and breakaway that we teach is easy. It is easy to learn, easy to understand and easy to teach.

I bet that many of you, like us, have been on courses where the skills taught were difficult to learn. I bet you have also been on courses where the skills you were taught to practice was broken down into a multitude of component parts and then taught as a "bit-drill-by-numbers" approach to learning. In short the need to learn the skill was multiplied beyond necessity!! If you have ever been taught like this you have experienced something that has failure built in! THIS TYPE OF TRAINING SYSTEM IS OLD!!!

We have continually refined our systems of teaching and training over the years in line with a very robust Quality Management System to ensure that what we teach is simple to learn, based on up-to-date Coaching Principles and Current Research in this field, and therefore, is easier to recall and remember - a vitally important principle if such skills are to be used in situations of high emotional arousal or threat.

As qualified NLP MASTER TRAINERS, as well as being properly qualified PROFESSIONAL COACHES, we use cutting-edge training skills that enable you to learn in a much quicker, more efficient and faster way. For example, you may or may not know that the brain cannot execute a negative command. Let me give you an example. Right now do not think of blue elephants or red hair. To not think of blue elephants or red hair you first have to think of it and then try and negate it. That's how the brain processes information. So, if you go on a course and you are given a lot of instruction on what you SHOULD NOT DO it is likely that you will focus your attention on what you should not do and then end up doing what you should not do. That is why a lot of time will be spent on many courses correcting mistakes that would not have possibly occurred had you been taught correctly by being shown WHAT TO DO as opposed to WHAT NOT TO DO. Get it? We also use a lot of other advanced training skills to help you such as Purpose Tremor Technique Instruction, the Pareto Principle and many more.

Our training has been legally audited by a Barrister at Law (CBE). In addition, we have worked with various eminent Professors of Law to ensure that what we are advocating is correct, accurate and legal.

It has also undergone (and continues to do so) regular Health and Safety Risk Assessments in line with the requirements of the Health and safety at Work Act 1974 and the associated Regulations (Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 and the Manual Handling Regulations 1992). It also complies with the Positive Obligation to Preserve Life as required by Article 2(1) of the Human Rights Act 1998, as well as compliance with Articles 3, 5 and 8 of the same Act.

We also comply with all of the relevant Children's legislation including the Children Act 1989, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Education and Inspections Act 2006 (and various other NEW Educational Legislative requirements).

We also comply with NICE Guidelines, The Mental Health Capacity Act, the Mental Health Act Code of Practice, The Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards, National Minimum Standards for Care Homes Guidance and the NEW Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 and the NEW Health and Safety Offences Act 2008.

By training with us you can be sure that you are receiving legally accurate and up to date training consistent with what the law requires and provides for.

We DO NOT teach techniques that SHOULD NOT BE TAUGHT.

Believe it or not we still come across people today who are being taught (and are teaching) techniques that increase the risk of injury and even the risk of death. Some of these techniques were advised against been taught by GOVERNMENT GUIDANCE OVER NINE YEARS AGO - BUT ARE STILL BEING TAUGHT TODAY! If you teach something you shouldn't - YOU ARE LIABLE!

The skills we teach have been thoroughly assessed and audited for the primary purpose of reducing the risk of injury and death.

What’s more important is that we can back up everything we say with evidential documentation to prove that what we are teaching is consistent with not only good practice, but also that it is legally compliant with the requirements of law.

Everything we teach is based on a properly structured RISK ASSESSMENTS. If you consider the new changes to the law you will be aware of how much you can be sued for if someone is injured as a result of your training because you failed to notice the risk and take suitable and sufficient control measures.

In addition, the New CORPORATE MANSLAUGHTER AND CORPORATE HOMICIDE ACT 2007 now makes Imprisonment more likely where a DEATH OCCURS that COULD HAVE BEEN PREVENTED. Also, the fines for Serious injuries at work have now also increased.

Our training however, is based around a thorough RISK ASSESSMENT - WHICH YOU GET TO KEEP - which means that if you follow what we teach and how we teach it - YOU WILL NEVER HAVE A CLAIM AGAINST YOU SUCCEED!

Many professional people have attended our courses ranging from Health and Safety Professionals (including an HSE Inspector), Social Care staff, Nursing staff, Care Home staff, Security staff, Members of the Armed Forces, Police Officers, and many others. You can view the feedback from many of these individuals on this site and  also by looking at the video feedback that is also available.

Mark Dawes

Mark Dawes holds National Coach Tutor and National Ratification Officer status for the development, delivery, accreditation and ratification of all Occupational Intervention and Disengagement Physical Skills Training including Train the Trainer Development Programmes. Mark has worked as a hostage negotiator and is a competent physical skills instructor with over thirty years of experience to fall back on. In addition he is a member of the Expert Witness Institute, An Associate Member of the Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH), a qualified Risk–Assessor and a registered and qualified Stress Consultant (Registered in 1994).  Mark is also the author of three books: Managing the Monkey - How to Defuse the Conflicts That Can Lead to Violence in the Workplace, Understanding Reasonable Force and Understanding Unreasonable Force – The Use of Force with Children and Young People (co-authored with Debbie Jones). 

John Steadman.

John Steadman is without doubt one of the leading Physical Skills instructors in the world today with over forty-five years of experience under his belt. He has also been awarded National Coach Tutor status by the British Ju-Jitsu Governing Body for the development, delivery, accreditation and ratification of all Occupational Intervention and Disengagement Physical Skills Training including Train the Trainer Development Programmes. Also, as a Founder member of the British Ju-Jitsu Association (GB) he was involved in the 1980’s in the development of the physical techniques that now form part of the prison service control & restraint system. 

Debbie Jones (B.A. Hons.Dip.S.W.)

Debbie’s work has included a considerable amount of family work, child protection work, and inter-agency liaison. She also has several years experience of residential work with adult offenders. She has worked primarily and extensively with ten to eighteen year olds in the youth justice system involving the devising and implementing programmes of work to reduce the risk of re-offending, supervising young people on court orders, involvement with those who receive custodial sentences, undertaking risk assessments and preparing Court reports. As a co-worker for Barnardo’s young abusers’ project, she also delivered programmes of work for adolescent sex offenders. Debbie is also a very proficient and competent instructor who can draw upon an extensive range of experience and training allowing her to address her subject matter with a well-informed and balanced approach. Her skills complement all of the training and consultative services offered by N.F.P.S. Ltd. and we regard her as one of the most professional trainers in this field. Debbie has helped us to devise specific training programmes for our clients as well as assisting them in the development and construction of lawful and competent organizational policy. Debbie is also the co-author of Understanding Unreasonable Force – The Use of Force with Children and Young People.

ABSOLUTELY. We offer you a 100% CAST IRON GUARANTEE. If, for any reason you are not happy with the course by day 2 of the training - simply return everything to us and we will refund you in full for the cost of the course so that you are in no way out of pocket.

This is a 'NO QUESTIONS ASKED GUARANTEE'. We are SO CONFIDENT that YOU will GAIN MORE BENEFIT THAN THE COST YOU PAY WE ARE MORE THAN HAPPY TO STAND BY THIS GUARANTEE.

All you need to do now to reserve your place on the next NFPS Restraint Instructors Course is complete the booking form on the site and we will look forward to welcoming you on the next course.

In the last 4 years to date over 254 people have attended our Restraint & Breakaway Instructor’s Qualifying Course and the following is an extract of our findings from or quality assurance and internal audit system.

All of the 254 delegates who attended were asked the following questions and asked to rate their response on a scale of 1 – 10 (1 being low and 10 being high). All of the scores were then added and a percentage reached against the highest possible score for each answer, which would be 100%.

The following percentages indicate the high level of satisfaction from 254 individuals who have themselves assessed us on our training delivery and suitability.

1. What is interesting to note is that in over four-years no one has ever received an injury in training. In short, we have a 100% record in training in a safe way and in developing safe systems of work in line with health and safety legislation – an important aspect if you are thinking of attending or running a course in house.
2. We have scored a 99.6% satisfaction rate in how those who attended rated our instructional knowledge and competency.
3. We have scored a 99.5% satisfaction rate in terms of how you found us observing good health and safety practices.
4. We have scored a 98.2% satisfaction rate in improving the professional knowledge and competence of those who have attended, and a 97.1% satisfaction rating in answering all questions to our delegate’s satisfaction.
5. We have scored a 98.7% rating in delivering the training in a way that enables those attending to learn successfully.
6. We have scored a 98.3% rating on the basis that the techniques learned will be useful in the workplace.
7. We have scored a 98.3% satisfaction rating on how appropriate and effective the physical skills are that we teach.
8. We have scored a 98.8% rating on our course handout.
9. We have scored a 99.1% rating on how well structured the course was.
10. 90% of those who attended had their expectations exceeded, 10% had their expectations fulfilled, and no one has ever been disappointed.
11. 91% of those who have attended rated the course as ‘Far superior’ and 7% rated our course as being ‘Much Better’ to other similar courses that they had previously attended.
12. 99% of delegates stated that they would ‘Definitely’ recommend this course to other people and organisations.

The above statistics come from our own ISO9001: 2008 Quality Management and Audit processes which enable us to actively monitor what we are doing and make amendments and changes where necessary to continually move us towards our primary aim – delivering training that not only provides best value in terms of quality, but also in terms of best value for money.

In short, if you were going to invest your money in you by training with us, would you want to ensure that you were investing wisely?

Well, based on our current evaluations we can offer you a course that will not only improve your professional ability and competence, but also a course that you can attend where you are virtually guaranteed that you won’t be injured.

Some of the comments from those who attended the March 2008 course:

“I have been on over 30 residential courses over 22 years and this one will always stand out as the finest!”

“Whenever I take a course like this I really feel inspired to become a better trainer. This course has done far more than that and it is an experience I hope to always carry with me. Thank you.”

“This course has been a great experience and I’ve learned a great deal. After the initial worry, due to me finding the course daunting, the tutors did make me feel at ease and were very supportive, improving my confidence and my ability.”

“The course was structured to reinforce learning and both the instructors managed to create an atmosphere that encouraged and empowered the students.”

“You have turned what I have been doing for 15 years on it’ head. All instructors who think they know about this stuff should be made to attend this course.”

“The course achieved all it’s objectives that I expected it to, including advantages in my private life. I also feel that the NLP stuff has also been very valuable.”

“Really good. Learned more than I thought. Tutors were great. Excellent.”

“Very good course. Experienced Instructors. Great Knowledge. Excellent result.”

“I would recommend this course in the future to colleagues. It gave a wide and broad range as there were people from different work backgrounds.”

“Thoroughly enjoyed the course and I feel that I have learned a lot.”

“An excellent course, thank you both.”

“I thoroughly enjoyed the course, the week has flown by. Very empowering!”

“I feel better equipped to support staff, having felt severely uncertain about these issues since I started my job in 2005. Thank you.” 
“Many thanks for opening my eyes.”

Other examples of feedback that we have received from previous courses:

“Hi Mark & John

Just a quick e-mail thanking you for such a fantastic course. As I said before I have attended many courses all over the country, 64 to be exact, and I can say with no doubt at all the NFPS Control  & Restraint course instructed by yourself and John was the most Informative, interesting, well put together and professionally instructed course I have ever had the pleasure to attend. I would like to thank you both personally for getting me through the course and making me feel so welcome you both have a great talent for teaching and making everyone feel at ease with you both. I will definitely be attending the course next year! Please Thank Debbie for me I thought her part was fantastic you all work really well together. I wish you all the very best in the future and I really hope we all catch up soon.”

BCA Self Protection Instructor

“Excellent course with plenty of information which can be taken away and implemented (a lot of the hard work already done for us).”

Security Training Officer

“Excellent course, well delivered, very informative & beneficial. Clarifies ‘muddy’ issues! Thoroughly enjoyed it – thanks a lot.”

Health and Safety Advisor

“The best course I have been on ever.”

Company Security Training Officer

“I liked the structure and emphasis on safety.”

Trainer - Mental Health:

“No improvement could be made to the course syllabus and the comradery is second-to-none! Enjoyable learning – Excellent High Standard.”

Social Services Trainer

“The course was first class. If it could be improved I don’t know how.”

Local Authority Trainer

“The course has taught me a lot about physical restraint and its legal implications. In my opinion all door supervisors who wish to do their job effectively should attend this course.

Local Authority Registered Doorman

External Evaluations:

In addition to our own assessment of our training we have also had our training operationally audited in line with health and safety legislation, by a qualified and health and safety professional, in-line with relevant health and safety legislation and including the consultation regulations. The following therefore, is an independent assessment of our training by an in-house health and safety professional for training delivered to NHS Security Staff. The following is a breakdown of the findings of his own independent evaluation.

The questionnaires could be completed anonymously to enable staff to freely express their own personal opinions.

Question 1: Were the techniques taught relevant to your work circumstances (e.g. environments you work in, persons you have to deal with, staffing levels etc)?

Question 2: Were the techniques flexible to accommodate situations you brought up?

Question 3: Were all questions answered to your satisfaction?

Question 4: Was the training delivered effectively and in a way to enable you to learn successfully?

Question 5: How would you rate the trainers' knowledge & competence?

Question 6: How confident were you that the techniques & knowledge you were learning would be useful in the workplace?

Question 7: During the course did the trainer(s) observe good health and safety practices (e.g. offer cautionary warnings, check about injuries etc.)

Question 8: Did the training make you feel safer when dealing with aggressive people at work?

Question 9: Did you think it made it safer for the aggressive people you had to use C&R techniques on?

 

Question 10: Did you think the training contributed to reducing the frequency and/or severity of being injured at work when dealing with aggressive people?

Question 11: If somone in another organisation(who had not received any C&R training) was to ask you about this course would you, strongly recommend it, recommend it, offer no opinion, suggest they consider others first or tell them to avoid it completely?

Question 12: Overall how helpful was the training to you as a member of staff?

Conclusion

From the survey results it is apparent that all Security Officers who responded are more than happy with the current training being offered and strongly believe it has reduced the risks to their personal safety. In particular it was apparent that: -

• In all cases the Security Officers indicated that they felt the current training had reduced the risks of violence to themselves and also the risk of injury to persons being restrained.
• In contrast where Security Officers had undertaken training provided by other training providers the feedback was less positive in terms of improving Officers personal safety and worryingly two Officers thought the previous training had definitely made it less safe for those being restrained.
• All Security Officers would strongly recommend the current training and training providers to other Security officers in the NHS.
• In contrast the Security Officers you had undertaken training previously by other training providers, indicated that they would either advise a colleague to consider others first or tell them to avoid it completely.
• All rated the current training as very helpful to them in their role as a Hospital Security Officer.
• In contrast of the Security Officers who had undertaken training previously by other training providers, only 3 rated the training as slightly helpful, with 1 indicating it had made no difference and 1 indicating it had actually been unhelpful.
• On more than half the reported incidents since the training the Security Supervisor has commented that the training had directly enabled staff to defuse and control a situation or use restraint in such a way that no injuries occurred. In conclusion the training has been fully effective meeting the needs of staff and providing them with the skills and knowledge to deal with the risks of violence they face, whilst protecting their health and safety."

Health and Safety Adviser