The Prevent strategy
The Prevent strategy was published in 2011 and forms part of the UK’s overall counter-terrorism strategy: CONTEST. The aim of the Prevent strategy is to reduce the threat to the UK from terrorism by stopping people being drawn into terrorism, either becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. Prevent works at the pre-criminal stage by using early intervention to encourage individuals and communities to challenge extremist and terrorist ideology and behaviour.
- Read the Government’s Prevent duty statutory guidance document
- Read the July 2015 DfE guidance Prevent duty - departmental advice for schools and childcare providers
The three specific objectives of the Government Prevent strategy are to:
- respond to the ideological challenge of terrorism and the threat the UK faces from those who promote it;
- prevent people from being drawn into terrorism and ensure that they are given appropriate advice and support; and
- work with sectors and institutions where there are risks of radicalisation that we need to address.
Hackney Education objectives
As well as supporting the objectives of the Government strategy as above, our overriding aim is to ensure that young people are safeguarded and that no-one is drawn towards radicalisation and terrorism. Hackney Education's Strategic Lead for Prevent is Donna Thomas, Head of Early Years, and the Service Lead is Paul Kelly, Head of Wellbeing and Education Safeguarding.
Schools have a duty of care to their pupils and staff which includes safeguarding them from the risk of being drawn into terrorism.
“Schools should be safe spaces in which children and young people can understand and discuss sensitive topics, including terrorism and the extremist ideas that are part of the terrorist ideology and learn how to challenge these ideas”.
Prevent Duty Guidance for England and Wales
Schools must:
- promote community cohesion; and
- ensure that fundamental British values are promoted in the delivery of the curriculum and extra-curricular activities and reflected in the general conduct of the school.
Independent schools, academies and free schools’ curricula must promote fundamental British values as part of a broader requirement to promote the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils.
- Read the Government's guidance on promoting fundamental British values in schools
- Read the Hackney shared values toolkit
Curriculum support
Through a dedicated Teaching and Learning Consultant, Hackney Education is able to provide support to schools developing a broad and comprehensive curriculum response to the Prevent duty and British values. Training is available to support schools in:
- Planning curriculum responses which meet the needs of children and staff, responding to the requirements of SMSC, Fundamental British Values and the Prevent duty in the specific context of the school
- Advancing an understanding of the pedagogical tools and techniques integral to effective education against extremism based on the most recent and relevant research
- Developing skills and confidence in teaching and managing sensitive and / or controversial issues in the curriculum
- Building resilience, fostering critical thinking, and enabling deeper learning in children when considering FBV, and issues linked to the Prevent duty.
Contact prevent@hackney.gov.uk for more information.
London Child Protection Procedures
This guidance summarises the responsibility of professionals and volunteers to intervene effectively to prevent the grooming of children for involvement in extremist activity. For many, this will mean being alert to the ways in which young people can become vulnerable to radicalisation, the indicators that they are being radicalised and knowing how to report these concerns. For others, who have more specific safeguarding responsibilities, it will involve complex work to support victims and disrupt and prosecute perpetrators.
What support is available for those at risk of becoming involved in terrorism?
We work closely with local police and statutory services to deliver a multi-agency initiative known as Channel. The aim is to support vulnerable individuals at risk of radicalisation and offer guidance and advice to key agencies. Early identification is vital to safeguard the vulnerable individual and prevent them from committing potential criminal acts.
Individuals referred to Channel will be needs assessed and if suitable for Channel based intervention, they will be invited to participate in a voluntary intervention process. The intervention is tailored to meet individual needs and will include a range of activities such as mentoring, leadership skills and other practical assistance.
How to make a referral to Channel
A CHANNEL alert can come to the attention of statutory agencies in various ways. This could be through information or intelligence acquired or received by the police or partner agencies. By contrast, the concern could be expressed by a parent to a teacher, other professional or indeed a community leader.
A completed Prevent referral form should be sent to prevent@hackney.gov.uk with the full details needed for the preliminary assessment. The Prevent team at Hackney or the Police Prevent Engagement Officer are available to discuss a referral at any stage in the process.
The Police Prevent Engagement Officer will carry out an initial screening process and ensure relevant security checks are completed. Should further information be required the referral will be passed to Channel Police. A referral should not continue through the Channel process if:
- it is malicious or misguided
- the person’s engagement with the process would compromise or interfere with ongoing investigations into illegal activity
- it is clear the person is not vulnerable to violent extremism
The Home Office has produced further guidance on this:
Home Office Prevent training
There are a wide range of Prevent training courses available. The most widely available of these is the HM Government produced Workshop to Raise Awareness of Prevent (WRAP). WRAP training can be delivered free of charge by the Prevent Education Officer. This training is available for all schools or childcare providers in the borough including independent schools.
In addition, an e-learning tool, aimed at those with responsibilities under the Prevent duty, particularly front line staff in schools and colleges, is designed to help raise awareness of radicalisation. It will help staff to identify the signs that someone may be at risk and where to go for support. This is introductory training. It provides a foundation on which to develop further knowledge around the risks of radicalisation.
The e-learning has been developed following consultation with a wide range of people from the schools sector, local authorities and communities and many others. The e-learning draws on the key elements of WRAP to deliver an e-learning based training tool which is more accessible for the range of people who now have responsibilities to prevent people being drawn into terrorism.
- Contact prevent@hackney.gov.uk for more information
- Access the Prevent e-learning tool
- Access the Prevent referrals e-learning training
Prevent training catalogue
A training catalogue has been produced by the Home Office to highlight some of the publically accessible Prevent related training courses that may assist those who work in the institutions covered by the requirements of the Prevent Duty. Some products within this catalogue are available free of charge. Others may incur costs and these costs are specified in the course overview.
There are a range of other courses that are also available that may not be included in this catalogue that you may also wish to consider. Some of these may have broader aims, for example the teaching of critical thinking skills to students. Some well-known courses are not currently publically available and therefore do not feature in this catalogue.
- View the Prevent training catalogue
Channel General Awareness e-learning module
To increase knowledge of radicalisation, awareness of the Channel process and confidence to make a referral, the National Centre for Applied Learning Technologies (NCALT) has developed a Channel General Awareness e-learning module for police and multi-agencies partners in collaboration with colleagues from the National College of Policing (NCoP).
- Access the NCALT e-learning module
The e-learning includes information on how Channel links to CONTEST through the Prevent strategy. It also provides guidance on how to identify people who may be vulnerable to radicalisation and how to refer them into the Channel programme.
There are also case studies to help users understand the process of identifying and referring vulnerable individuals, in addition to providing them with support, and is a good way of providing staff with a fundamental understanding of Channel.
Educate Against Hate
The Educate Against Hate website gives parents, teachers and school leaders practical advice on protecting children from extremism and radicalisation. It also contains a number of teaching resources on radicalisation and extremism suitable for PSHE lessons or assemblies.
- View the Educate Against Hate website