Factsheet about ‘Prevent’– September 2015

Factsheet about ‘Prevent’– September 2015

‘Prevent’ relates to the Counter Terrorism and Security Act 2015 which came into force on 1 July 2015.

Since July 1 2015 there has been a duty on schools to have ‘due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism’. This is called the Prevent duty.

Prevent is part of the Government’s counter terrorism strategy. Its aim is to stop more people from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism in all its forms.

All staff will be trained using the ‘Workshop to Raise Awareness of Prevent’ [WRAP] training materials in 2015/16. Until that training session occurs staff should be aware of the following:

What is radicalisation?

“Radicalisation” refers to the process by which a person comes to support terrorism and forms of extremism leading to terrorism. During that process it is possible to intervene to prevent vulnerable people being drawn into terrorist-related activity.

What is extremism?

‘Vocal or active opposition to fundamental British values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs’.

Please note that being drawn into terrorism includes not only violent extremism but also non-violent extremism. Extremism can take several forms, including islamist extremism, far-right and animal rights extremism for example.

What are British Values?

‘Democracy, the rule of law, equality of opportunity, freedom of speech and the rights for all men and women to live free from persecution of any kind’.

Schools are expected to encourage pupils to respect other people with particular regard to the protected characteristics set out in the Equality Act 2010 (age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion and belief, sex and sexual orientation).

Schools can 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, schools should provide a safe place in which children, young people and staff can understand the risks associated with terrorism and develop the knowledge and skills to be able to challenge extremist arguments.

What action should staff take if they are worried that a child or young person might be drawn into extremism?

As with all forms of safeguarding, staff should use their professional judgement in identifying an individual who may be at risk of radicalisation.

The school has clear procedures in place to safeguard children that includes protecting children at risk of radicalisation. These procedures will be set out in existing safeguarding policies. All staff should be aware of the school’s safeguarding policy and procedures and follow these for any aspect of safeguarding, including extremist views/extremism.

If a member of staff has a concern about a particular pupil they should follow the school’s normal safeguarding procedures, including discussing with the school’s Designated Safeguarding Lead, and where deemed necessary, with children’s social care.

As with any form of safeguarding if a member of staff has any concerns about a child in the first instance they should inform the Designated Safeguarding Lead. Concerns can be the ‘generic’ safeguarding triggers linked to the child protection training staff have received such as: changes in behaviour and mood, self-harm; or the specific extremist religious or political strand