Prevent Duty
Advice for schools on the Prevent Duty
The Prevent duty requires a wide range of bodies, including all school providers, to have due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism in the exercise of their functions. The government issued statutory guidance on the duty in September 2016 in ‘Keeping children safe in education’ Part 1 pages 18,19 & 20 & also in the PREVENT guidance paragraphs 57-76
The advice also explains what Headteachers and staff can do if they have any concerns relating to extremism. The Department for Education has set up a telephone helpline (020 7340 7264) to enable people to raise concerns directly. Concerns can also be raised by email to counter.extremism@education.gsi.gov.uk
For the new academic year we wanted to highlight the changes that were made to the mandatory Keeping Children Safe in Education guidance in late July - KCSIE
Safeguarding your young person from Radicalisation
At FreshSteps Education Centre we pride ourselves on celebrating and promoting our diverse community with its many different ethnicities and religions. We also recognise however that in today’s world our young people are faced with many pressures as they grow up and can often be influenced by strong feelings expressed by others in connection with a range of complex issues. Radicalisation is a process by which an individual or group comes to adopt increasingly extreme political, social, or religious ideals and aspirations.
FreshSteps will ensure that:
- We do risk assessments on all our students
- Work in partnership with other agencies such as the police youth offending service and social care
- Ensure the designated safeguarding lead has Prevent awareness training which can be shared with other staff members.
- Make all IT equipment safe to use including putting in place filtering and monitoring system so that our students are safe and free from accessing terrorist and extremist materials.
FreshSteps does not condone political, religious or cultural extremism in any form believing it to run contrary to our fundamental aims and ethos ‘To provide and environment which is stimulating and free from unacceptable risk’
We have a duty of care to ensure that all in community are protected from any dangers of being potentially or actually radicalised.
There are a number of pointers that may possibly indicate that an individual may be being adversely targeted by an extremist group or cause, such as:
- Suddenly changing how they dress or their appearance.
- High absence rate from school with no clear reason.
- Losing interest in friends or activities not associated with a particular ideology, with their behaviour becoming focused on an extreme idea or cause.
- Possessing or being associated with material or symbols associated with an extremist cause (e.g. the swastika for far-right groups), being in communication with suspected extremists, use of internet and other social media sites associated with extremism.
FreshSteps fully endorse the PREVENT strategy that:
Schools can help to protect children from extremist and violent views in the same ways that they help to safeguard children from drugs, gang violence or alcohol. Their purpose must be to protect children from harm and to ensure that they are taught in a way that is consistent with the law and our values.
Please be reassured that all of our students are given information on staying safe in the school and wider community and are told about appropriate behaviour in terms of their day to day conduct and:
E-saftey
We do follow up and refer any inappropriate or concerning behaviour and work closely with a range of other agencies, such as the Police and Social Care. Our Safeguarding Officers are always available to discuss any issue you as parents/carers may be concerned about.
Related Policies:
Safeguarding, E-safety, Behaviour & SMSC
Anti-Terrorism Hotline: 0800 789 3321
Local Authority Community Safer Unit: 0208 379 4085
