PREVENT
What is the Prevent strategy?
Prevent is a government strategy designed to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorist or extremist causes. The Prevent strategy covers all types of terrorism and extremism and is based on the principle that people should treat everyone with respect whatever their race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, special need or disability.
From July 2015 all schools (as well as other organisations) have a duty to safeguard children from radicalisation and extremism. This means we have a responsibility to protect children from extremist and violent views. In school, we can provide a safe place for pupils to discuss these issues, so they better understand how to protect themselves.
How do we do this?
Extremism can take many forms, including political, religious and misogynistic extremism. We will help children develop the skills to protect them from any extremist views they may encounter, now or later in their lives.
Many of the things we already do in our school to help children become positive, happy members of society also contribute to the Prevent strategy.
These include:
- Exploring other cultures and religions and promoting diversity and tolerance
- Challenging prejudices and racist comments
- Developing critical thinking skills and a strong, positive self-identity
- Promoting the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils
- Promoting the Core British Values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs
We will also protect children from the risk of radicalisation, for example by using filters on the internet to make sure they can’t access extremist and terrorist material, or by vetting visitors who come into school to work with pupils. We will carry out our Prevent duty in different ways, depending on the age of the children and the needs of our community.
The Prevent strategy is not just about discussing extremism itself, which may not be appropriate for younger children. It is also about teaching children values such as tolerance and mutual respect. Our School will make sure any discussions are suitable for the age and maturity of the children involved.
The following links and resources provide further guidance and support regarding the Prevent strategy in schools.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/prevent-duty-guidance
The Prevent duty: safeguarding learners vulnerable to radicalisation - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
www.lancashire.gov.uk/media/911148/lancashire-schools-prevent-handbook.pdf