From 1 July 2015 all schools, registered early years childcare providers and registered later years childcare providersare 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”. This duty is known as the Prevent duty.

Prevent duty Policy:

  • staff are able to identify children who may be vulnerable to radicalisation, and know what to do when they are identified.
  •  Protecting children from the risk of radicalisation
  • 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 children debating controversial issues. On the contrary, childcare settings should provide a safe space 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.
  • For early years childcare providers, the statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage sets standards for learning, development and care for children from 0-5, thereby assisting their personal, social and emotional development and understanding of the world.

Procedure:

The statutory guidance on the Prevent duty summarises the requirements on schools and childcare providers in terms of four general themes: risk assessment, working in partnership, staff training and IT policies.

  1. Risk assessment-The statutory guidance makes clear that schools and childcare providers are expected to assess the risk of children being drawn into terrorism, including support for extremist ideas that are part of terrorist ideology.
  2. Identify:There is no single way of identifying an individual who is likely to be susceptible to a terrorist ideology. As with managing other safeguarding risks, staff should be alert to changes in children’s behaviour which could indicate that they may be in need of help or protection.
Factors that may have a bearing on someone becoming vulnerable may include:  
peer pressure
influence from other people or via the internet
bullying
crime against them or their involvement in crime
anti social behaviour
family tensions
race/hate crime
lack of self esteem
identity and personal or political grievances
  • All staff complete training on Prevent Duty, this provides an introduction to how to identify factors that can make people vulnerable to radicalisation, and case studies illustrating the types of intervention that may be appropriate.
  • Schools and childcare providers should have clear procedures in place for protecting children at risk of radicalisation.Procedures are the same as documenting, recording and reporting abuse as stated in the safeguarding policy.
  • Referral:Childcare providers should understand when it is appropriate to make a referral-when concerned about a venerable person and have identified risk factors.
  • Working in partnership
  • The Prevent duty builds on existing local partnership arrangements. Local Safeguarding Children Boards (LSCBs) are responsible for co-ordinating what is done by local agencies for the purposes of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children in their local area. Safeguarding arrangements should already take into account the policies and procedures of the LSCB. For example, LSCBs publish threshold guidance indicating when a child or young person might be referred for support.
  • Local authorities are vital to all aspects of Prevent work. In some priority local authority areas, Home Office fund dedicated Prevent co-ordinators to work with communities and organisations, including schools. Other partners, in particular the police and also civil society organisations, may be able to provide advice and support to schools on implementing the duty.
  • Effective engagement with parents / the family is also important as they are in a key position to spot signs of radicalisation. It is important to assist and advise families who raise concerns and be able to point them to the right support mechanisms.
  • Staff Training
  • Designated Safeguarding Lead undertakes Prevent awareness training and is able to provide advice and support to other members of staff on protecting children from the risk of radicalisation.
  • All staff received Prevent Duty training
  • IT policies:The children do not have access to the internet in this setting.

Procedure to follow concerned:

  • Emergency:follow thenormal safeguarding procedures, including discussing with designated safeguarding lead, and where deemed necessary the local authority Prevent lead who can also provide support.
Southend on sea: Prevent DutySarah Range or Simon Ford 01702 215008 (concerns about over 18’s) 01702 215007 (concerns about under 18’s)
  • You can also contact your local police force or dial 101 (the non-emergency number). They can talk to you in confidence about your concerns and help you gain access to support and advice.
  • Non-emergency:The Department for Education has dedicated a telephone helpline (020 7340 7264) to enable staff and governors to raise concerns relating to extremism directly. Concerns can also be raised by email to counter.extremism@education.gsi.gov.uk. Please note that the helpline is not intended for use in emergency situations, such as a child being at immediate risk of harm or a security incident, in which case the normal procedures should be followed.

Building children’s resilience to radicalisation:

  • Build children’s‟ resilience to radicalisation by providing a safe environment for debating controversial issues and helping them to understand how they can influence and participate in decision-making.
  • We promote the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of childrenthrough fundamental British values.
  • Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) can be an effective way of providing children with time to explore sensitive or controversial issues, and equipping them with the knowledge and skills to understand and manage difficult situations. The subject can be used to teach children to recognise and manage risk, make safer choices, and recognise when pressure from others threatens their personal safety and wellbeing. They can also develop effective ways of resisting pressures, including knowing when, where and how to get help.
  • We encourage pupils to develop positive character traits through PSHE, such as resilience, determination, self-esteem, and confidence.
  • Pupils are also taught about the diverse national, regional, religious and ethnic identities in the United Kingdom and the need for mutual respect and understanding

How to talk to children about terrorism:

  1. Find out what they know
  2. Even if they don’t know what it is, they still know something’s happening. Having information can actually help take away the confusion, and help kids feel better.
  3. Let the information they have launch the conversation, and then let the children steer the discussion with their questions and concerns. “Say, ‘You may have heard something really sad happened, and I wanted to know what you had heard about that’. If you’re not sure they’ve heard anything—and don’t want to open a can of worms—just ask about their day, or if they heard anything interesting, and see if they bring it up.
  • Talk about it more than once.
  • Be sure the children know they can ask you about difficult topics, because being able to talk about something intrinsically makes it less scary—and keep the lines of communication open
  • It is important to keep talking to them because they are at risk of getting a lot of misinformation from their peers.”
  • Keep it simple.
  • Answer any questions the children have in language they can understand.
  • For example: A 4-year-old would say, ‘Something bad happened,’ and there are ‘bad guys,’ because developmentally, a child that age would be thinking bad guys, good guys, and there’s nothing in between.  You can say, ‘Yes, there were some bad people, and they hurt some people because they were very angry, and we know’—(and this is the teachable moment)—’that it’s never okay to hurt ourselves or to hurt somebody else because we’re feeling angry.’
  • Bring it to their level.
  • By relating what happened to experiences children can understand.
  • For example “‘You know when you get in a fight with your friend because you want the toy, and she wants the toy at the same time? And only one of you can have it? People fight and they get upset when they can’t have what they want, or a loved one is hurt, and these are all different reasons why people get in big fights.'”
  • Avoid getting into conversations about religion, politics, or other subjects, which really aren’t relevant unless you’re talking to an older child.
  • Children are very egocentric, and they want to know that they’re okay, and the people around them are going to be okay. Minimise the explanation by saying‘a sad thing happened. People were hurt and killed, but people are looking after them and weare all very safe.
  • Pay attention to the types of questions your child is asking, too. Otherwise you have children who have absorbed the idea that they personally are hated by scary, very violent people who might crawl in their window at night.
  • Encourage them to express how they feel.
  • Listen to their worries and help them name their feelings. This will help the children cope and understand what’s going on.
  • Ask the children: How do you show you are?  Angry/sad/happy etc. What do you do when you’re angry? What do you do if you’re sad? How do you respect people’s differences/how are people different? How do we treat/play with children that are different to us?
  • Reassure them.
  • While you can acknowledge that what happened is scary, you want to reassure the children with your words and behaviour.
  • First, put it in perspective. Say ‘You know, the reason it’s on the news so much is because it’s such an unusual occurrence/ does not happen often’
  • Next, emphasize that while there are some bad people in the world, there are many more good people.
  • Sometimes children will ask questions like, ‘Am I going to be okay?’ or ‘Why do these bad guys do such terrible things? Will life ever be the same again? And could this happen here?'” We don’t always have the answers to those questions, and you can say that, but you can also identify all the people who are working very hard to keep our country safe. The men and women in the Armed Forces, the Prime minster, the police, the firemen, teachers.
  • Make a list with the child of all the good people you know to show her what a great support system they have.
  • Model good coping skills.
  • Show the children that while terrorist attacks are scary, you are okay
  • If our tone of voice conveys confidence in the people who are ensuring our safety and in stepping up the efforts to prevent this from happening again, then our children are reassured.
  • If you’re not feeling confident, though, don’t fake it. Being disingenuous can actually make kids more unsettled, because they can sense when words don’t line up with feelings. Instead, say that while you’re frightened and sad, you’re also comforted by knowing how many people are working hard to keep us safe.
  • Consistency is also important, so keep your routines the same and keep life feeling normal. Children are very rooted in the now, as terrorism is a very abstract idea, pre-schoolers are only going to be impacted if we are
  • Empower them.
  • Terrorist attacks are scary because they make us feel out of control, so help the children focus on areas where they do have power over their safety so they know there are actions they can take to keep themselves safe.
  • Talkabout strategies they use for keeping themselves safe, like wearing a seatbelt in the car, wearing a helmet when riding a bike, and practicing fire drills. Simple little things like that all help children think there are things they can do to keep themselves safe.
What the children may ask/say:What to say (adults):
 Ask the children about their day.
 Ask the children if they have heard anything
 ‘You may have heard something really sad happened, and I wanted to know what you had heard about that’  
‘Something bad happened,’  ‘there are bad guys,’‘Yes, there were some bad people, and they hurt some people because they were very angry, and we know’—(and this is the teachable moment)—’that it’s never okay to hurt ourselves or to hurt somebody else because we’re feeling angry.’  
Why are the people angry/why do they fight etc?“‘You know when you get in a fight with your friend because you want the toy, and she wants the toy at the same time? And only one of you can have it? People fight and they get upset when they can’t have what they want, or a loved one is hurt, and these are all different reasons why people get in big fights.'”  
  ‘a sad thing happened. People were hurt and killed, but people are looking after them and weare all very safe.  
 How do you show you are?  Angry/sad/happy etc. What do you do when you’re angry? What do you do if you’re sad? How do you respect people’s differences/how are people different? How do we treat/play with children that are different to us?  
 ‘You know, the reason it’s on the news so much is because it’s such an unusual occurrence/ does not happen often.  
 Even though there are some bad people in the world, there are many more good people.   Ii may be frightening and sad, but I am also comforted by knowing how many people are working hard to keep us safe.   Make a list with the child of all the good people you know to show her what a great support system they have.  
‘Am I going to be okay?’ ‘Why do these bad guys do such terrible things? ‘Will life ever be the same again?’ ‘could this happen here?'”We don’t always have the answers to those questions, and you can say that, but you can also identify all the people who are working very hard to keep our country safe. The men and women in the Armed Forces, the Prime minster, the police, the firemen, teachers.  
 Talk about strategies they use for keeping themselves safe, like wearing a seatbelt in the car, wearing a helmet when riding a bike, and practicing fire drills.