{"id":274,"date":"2026-07-16T13:52:59","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T12:52:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theloddonfoundation.org.uk\/training\/?p=274"},"modified":"2026-10-15T11:12:02","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T10:12:02","slug":"understanding-the-proact-scipr-uk-approach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theloddonfoundation.org.uk\/training\/understanding-the-proact-scipr-uk-approach","title":{"rendered":"Understanding the PROACT-SCIPr-UK\u00ae Approach"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

More than 700,000 children and adults in the UK are on the autistic spectrum. That\u2019s more than 1 in 100 and means that you will most likely know at least one person who falls somewhere on the spectrum. Some of those individuals will have lower support needs, while others will have higher support needs in order to function in daily life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we widen the scope to include anyone with learning difficulties or disabilities this takes us to 16.1 million in the UK alone. All these people may, at one point or another, exhibit behaviours that restrict their quality of life. These are sometimes referred to as \u2018behaviours of distress\u2019 or \u2018challenging\u2019 and \u2018difficult\u2019 behaviour. In the past, this may have led to individuals being labelled as \u2018naughty children\u2019 or \u2018mentally subnormal\u2019 (thankfully, a very outdated term), with many people only seeing the negative behaviour, and not the person beneath it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For professionals who work with people with autism, ADHD, learning difficulties or other disabilities, responding to challenging and restrictive behaviours can sometimes be a daily occurrence, and it can be stressful and frustrating. However, if we consider that all behaviour is communication, it is important that we understand what that behaviour is trying to say for each individual, and how to support it appropriately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is what the PROACT-SCIPr-UK\u00ae<\/sup> whole approach is about. It is an approach which puts the person at the centre of behaviour support, providing them with proactive care, as well as the support and tools they need to succeed. This approach has been developed over the last 30+ years by the staff who support the pupils at The Loddon School and is now taught to organisations across the UK. However, where did it come from, and why does it work?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A New Approach to Special Education<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The story of Loddon Training goes back to 1988, and the founder of The Loddon School Marion Cornick MBE. Marion had been a teacher, specialising in special education since the 1960s, working in establishments in New Zealand and England. She not only taught in various schools, but delivered workshops and talks on autism, which was not a very well-known condition at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marion always considered that things could, and should, be done differently. When she met the Inspector for Schools on one of his visits to the school she was working in at the time, he agreed. One thing led to another, and he put her in touch with a local school that was closing and needed someone to take over the building. It was the opportunity Marion had been waiting for, and with the caveat of \u2018remaining a charity\u2019, she was given the green light to go ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In her new school, which was later named The Loddon School, she could make a difference to the lives of children with autism and special educational needs. The Loddon School was designed specifically to provide care and education for children with complex needs, autism and learning difficulties. The aim being to provide them with education and life skills, enabling them to achieve a positive lifestyle and be as independent as possible when they reached adulthood enabling them to lead a fulfilling life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Changing Face of Special Needs Education<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When Marion was starting The Loddon School in the 1980s, societal values around the rights of children, and particularly the rights of children with disabilities, were very different. The School was opened 3 years before the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in the UK was accepted, which states in Article 23<\/a> that \u2018the disabled child should have effective access to, and receive education which encourages the fullest possible social integration and individual development\u2019.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Up until this point (and slightly beyond), the general school of thought was based on the \u2018Medical Model\u2019. This model believed that children with autism were \u2018uneducable\u2019, and appropriate care and treatment for their condition was in a long stay hospital. They were viewed as \u2018faulty\u2019, with their impairment becoming the focus of attention, their services segregated, and their ordinary needs put on hold. If the child was \u2018normal\u2019 enough, they could re-enter society, but if not, they would be permanently excluded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Around 1970, both society and medicine moved more towards the Social Model as attitudes changed. The child was valued instead of seen as broken, with strengths and needs that were defined by themselves and others. Professionals started to focus on identifying barriers and developing solutions, with outcome-based programmes designed, and resources made available. Training was offered for parents and professionals, and the child was not excluded from society with hospital stays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Medical Model (c1870-1970)<\/strong><\/td>Social Model (c1970-2010)<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
The child is faulty<\/td>The child is valued<\/td><\/tr>
Diagnosis<\/td>Strengths and needs defined by self and others<\/td><\/tr>
Labelling<\/td>Identify barriers and develop solutions<\/td><\/tr>
Impairment is the focus of attention<\/td>Outcome-based programs designed<\/td><\/tr>
Assessment\/monitoring<\/td>Resources made available<\/td><\/tr>
Segregation and alternative services<\/td>Training for parents and professionals<\/td><\/tr>
Ordinary needs are put on hold<\/td>Relationships nurtured<\/td><\/tr>
Re-entry if \u2018normal enough\u2019, or permanent exclusion if not<\/td>Diversity welcomed, and the child is welcomed<\/td><\/tr>
Society remains unchanged<\/td>Society evolves<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 (Source: Rieser, 2001)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When examined side by side, we can see how much it puts children with autism at a significant disadvantage and how challenging the medical model must have been for those working within this environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Warnock Report<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

However, change was already in motion. In 1978 the Warnock Report<\/a> was published, written by the late Baroness Mary Warnock. She was the head of a committee of 26 people, set up to advise the government on special education needs (or SEN). Their report laid out the foundations for what became the statements of special educational needs, which paved the way for the legally mandated provision for children in the schools we know today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, the Warnock Report was so influential that it significantly shaped the first comprehensive legislation on all SEN in \u2018The Education Act\u2019 (1981). This act made education for all disabled children compulsory, meaning that more than six million students with disabilities would have access to effective schooling. This was provided as a mix of mainstream and residential education environments, since the dominant view at the time remained that children with disabilities were better off away from their families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Warnock Report also contained sections that had a major influence on the development, conceptualisation, policy, and practice for children and young people with SEN across the UK and internationally. Even 45+ years after it was published, some of these key ideas are still at the heart of our approach to SEN education. For example, 4 core ideas in the report were:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parents as partners: <\/strong>The report stressed the importance of parental involvement, both as parents and as part of the assessment and decision-making on a child\u2019s SEN provision. This is something that has been very heavily developed since and is intrinsic in how we approach SEN children today. The report also highlighted the nature of the role parents should be taking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Multi-disciplinary assessment: <\/strong>On the topic of assessment, the report argued that it should be a multi-disciplinary affair and should be developmental. Instead, the report recognised that children\u2019s patterns of abilities and needs can vary to different degrees and in different ways over time. It\u2019s one of the reasons regular reviews are still an important part of monitoring development in SEN children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Diagnosis and terminology: <\/strong>While the report did agree that diagnostic labels did serve some use, it argued that they were not sufficient in determining the needs of the child. Instead, it suggests that needs should drive decisions regarding action; from teaching and learning in a school or early years provision, to the SEND system, including the development of special provision. This also included the changing of terminology used within schools and the system as a whole. Where some children were categorised as \u2018educationally subnormal\u2019, the committee recommended the phrase \u2018children with learning difficulties\u2019. This term stuck and remains in use today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Early intervention is vital: <\/strong>While there were many more ideas in the report, this is the last one we will mention directly, and it\u2019s the importance of early identification and intervention. The importance of both of these elements and reviews of the evidence over the years has raised awareness, as well as the launch of the Early Intervention Foundation (now Foundations<\/a>) to provide guidance on a range of issues for both parents and professionals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s no denying that the Warnock Report was pivotal in our understanding of SEN children, and responsible for how our current educational system now supports children with learning disabilities. Over 45 years on, this foundational report is just as relevant, and has helped us build a better, more understanding and supportive educational environment for all children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Ethos Behind Loddon School<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Whilst the Warnock Report was a revolutionary document that inspired real and tangible change, it was still limited. At that time, only a handful of disabilities were widely acknowledged (mainly the blind, deaf, physically and mentally handicapped), which left educators with broad and all-encompassing labels. The concept of autism and the issues surrounding it was not something that was widely accepted, which meant children on the spectrum were left out of the circle of support, insufficiently provided for, and in the eyes of some local authorities, entirely non-existent. In fact, when Marion Cornick approached the Department for Education about funding for her school, she was told that there was not sufficient need for a school for children with autism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marion welcomed the first child to the school in October 1988, a 13-year-old boy with very complex needs and no other options, having been excluded from other state schools and residential services. Working alongside Marion was a deputy headteacher with specific qualifications for working with special needs children, experienced teaching assistants and a qualified social worker with teaching experience, making up a multi-disciplinary team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a lot of learning done and changes made in those early days, but the \u2018proof of concept\u2019 worked, and soon more children (mainly teenagers at this stage) were enrolling at Loddon School for a chance to experience this new educational approach. Over the years new approaches were integrated, therapies and activities added, and student numbers grew and grew into the thriving school we are today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the very beginning, The Loddon School has been about approaching special needs education in a new and innovative way, one that puts the child at the centre and encompasses every aspect of life – \u2018A whole approach\u2019. This approach runs through every element of life at The Loddon School, from the \u2018Loddon Day\u2019 (designed to encourage staff to support the child at their own individual pace) to the development of our own unique approach (PROACT-SCIPr-UK\u00ae<\/sup>) to behaviour support. Over the years Marion, her colleague, Janet Bromley, and others developed the PROACT-SCIPr-UK\u00ae<\/sup> approach, which equips staff with the skills to use a less restrictive approach to learning and development in order to enable quality of life and relevant skill development, as well as providing a well-developed training and management system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, this approach was so successful that soon other organisations were asking for training in the approach, which is how Loddon Training was born. It is a way we can teach and spread the benefits of PROACT-SCIPr-UK\u00ae<\/sup> to other people and organisations across the country whilst retaining rigour and the high standards that are essential in providing excellent support to those children and adults who benefit from the approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Creation of PROACT-SCIPr-UK\u00ae<\/sup><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

PROACT-SCIPr-UK\u00ae<\/sup> is the brand name for this whole approach to behavioural support. It is an acronym for:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

P<\/em><\/strong>ositive R<\/strong>ange of O<\/strong>ptions to A<\/strong>void C<\/strong>risis and use T<\/strong>herapy \u2013 S<\/strong>trategies for C<\/strong>risis I<\/strong>ntervention and P<\/strong>revention.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We shortened it to PROACT-SCIPr-UK\u00ae<\/sup> for daily use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our method is based on decades of research and practice that resulted in delivering outstanding outcomes and promoting the minimisation of the use of restrictive practices while focusing on supporting people with a variety of needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The aim is to support and understand children and adults with challenging or restrictive behaviours, (behaviours of distress) while minimising the use of restrictive practices including physical interventions or restraint. It\u2019s an approach that has been developed by a diverse team of skilled, multi-disciplinary professionals over the course of 30+ years and is now being taught to other organisations that provide care and\/or education to individuals with complex needs, autism, ADHD, learning difficulties, mental health or other behavioural challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The main focuses of the approach are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n