PREVENT
Preventing Radicalisation
Prevent is a government strategy designed to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorist or extremist causes. Many of the things we do in school to help pupils become positive, happy members of society also contribute to the Prevent strategy.
From 1 July 2015 schools are subject to a duty under section 26 of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015, in the exercise of their functions, to have “due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism”.
Our school is clear that extremism and radicalisation should be viewed as safeguarding concerns. We value freedom of speech and the expression of beliefs and both pupils/students and adults have the right to speak freely and voice their opinions. Our ethos seeks to build pupils’ resilience to radicalisation by promoting fundamental British values and enabling them to challenge extremist views.
DfE guidance on the Prevent Duty can be found here:
Protecting Children from Radicalisation: The Prevent Duty
Children are exposed to news in many ways, and what they see can worry them. Our advice can help you have a conversation with your child:
- listen carefully to a child’s fears and worries
- offer reassurance and comfort
- avoid complicated and worrying explanations that could be frightening and confusing
- help them find advice and support to understand distressing events and feelings
- children can always contact Childline free and confidentially on the phone and online.
It’s also important to address bullying and abuse following the terrorist attacks.
Some children may feel targeted because of their faith or appearance
Look for signs of bullying, and make sure that they know they can talk with you about it. Often children might feel scared or embarrassed, so reassure them it's not their fault that this is happening, and that they can always talk to you or another adult they trust. Alert your child’s school so that they can be aware of the issue.
Dealing with offensive or unkind comments about a child’s faith or background
If you think this is happening, it’s important to intervene. Calmly explain that comments like this are not acceptable. Your child should also understand that someone’s beliefs do not make them a terrorist. Explain that most people are as scared and hurt by the attacks as your child is. You could ask them how they think the other child felt, or ask them how they felt when someone said something unkind to them. Explain what you will do next, such as telling your child's school, and what you expect them to do.
The NSPCC have information for parents/carers about radicalisation and dangers associated with extremism. There are also links to other supportive services on the NSPCC web page:
Information and resources to download for Parents/Carers and Staff can be found here:
e-Learning training on PREVENT - training developed by HM Government
Educate Against Hate - website resource for schools and parents/carers
At Rolleston, we build pupils’ resilience to radicalisation by promoting fundamental British Values and enabling them to challenge extremist views. It is important to emphasise that the Prevent duty is not intended to stop pupils debating controversial issues. On the contrary, school provides a safe space in which children and staff can understand the risks associated with terrorism and develop the knowledge and skills to be able to challenge extremist arguments.
For Early Years children, the statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage sets standards for learning, development and care of children, assisting their personal, social and emotional development and understanding of the world.
Channel
What is Channel?
Channel is a multi-agency approach to protect vulnerable people who may be susceptible to radicalisation. Channel is a voluntary, confidential programme which operates throughout England and Wales to safeguard people identified as vulnerable to being drawn into terrorism. It is a multi-agency process, involving partners from the local authority, the police, education, health providers, and others. Referring possible cases of early stage radicalisation works in a similar way to safeguarding processes designed to protect people from gang activity, drugs, and physical/sexual abuse.
It uses existing collaboration between the police, statutory partners and the local community to:
• Identify individuals at risk of being drawn into terrorism;
• Assess the nature and extent of that risk; and
• Develop the most appropriate support plan for the individuals concerned
• Operates in pre-criminal space
• Is a voluntary process.
Referral /PVP (Preliminary Assessment Multi-agency Panel)
Who can make a referral?
A referral can come from anyone who is concerned about a person they know who may be at risk of radicalisation, whether a family member, friend, and colleague or from a wide range of partners: social services, children and adult services youth offending teams, health, police, education establishments, and places of worship and community organisations (through the normal safeguarding process).