Priory Woods School & Arts College is committed to providing a secure environment for it’s pupils, where children feel safe and are kept safe. All adults at Priory Woods School & Arts College recognise that safeguarding is everyone's responsibility irrespective of the role they undertake or whether their role has direct contact or responsibility for children or not.
the physical, mental health and emotional well-being of children; the protection of children from harm and neglect; the education, training and recreation of children; the contribution made by them to society; and their social and economic well-being.
This Preventing Extremism and Radicalisation Policy is one element within our overall school arrangements to Safeguard and Promote the Welfare of all Children in line with our statutory duties.
Our school's Preventing Extremism and Radicalisation Safeguarding Policy also draws upon the guidance contained in DfE Guidance "Keeping Children Safe in Education, March 2015" (when revised - "Keeping Children Safe in Education, September 2018"
'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; and/or calls for the death of members of our armed forces, whether in this country or overseas'.
There is no place for extremist views of any kind in our school, whether from internal sources — pupils, staff or governors, or external sources - school community, external agencies or individuals. Our pupils see our school as a safe place where they can explore controversial issues safely and where our teachers encourage and facilitate this — we have a duty to ensure this happens.
Therefore, at Priory Woods School & Arts College we will provide a broad and balanced curriculum, delivered by skilled professionals, so that our children are enriched, understand and become tolerant of difference and diversity and also to ensure that they thrive, feel valued and not marginalised.
Furthermore, at Priory Woods School & Arts College we are aware that young people can be exposed to extremist influences or prejudiced views from an early age which emanate from a variety of sources and media, including via the internet, and at times pupils may themselves reflect or display views that may be discriminatory, prejudiced or extremist, including using derogatory language.
Any prejudice, discrimination or extremist views, including derogatory language, displayed by pupils or staff will always be challenged and where appropriate dealt with in line with our Reward and Behaviour Policy for pupils, and the Code of Conduct and Disciplinary Procedures for staff.
Our school will closely follow any locally agreed procedure as set out by the Local Authority and the Safeguarding Children Board's agreed processes and criteria for safeguarding individuals vulnerable to extremism and radicalisation.
Priory Woods School & Arts College will strive to eradicate the assumptions that can lead to some young people becoming alienated and disempowered. In our school this will be achieved by good teaching, primarily via PSHE; but also by adopting the methods outlined in the Government's guidance 'Teaching approaches that help build resilience to extremism among young people' DfE 2011.
We will ensure that all of our teaching approaches help our pupils build resilience to extremism and give pupils a positive sense of identity through the development of critical thinking skills. We will ensure that all of our staff are equipped to recognise extremism and are skilled and confident enough to challenge it.
Equipping our pupils with the appropriate skills, knowledge, understanding and awareness for resilience.
Our goal is to build mutual respect and understanding and to promote the use of dialogue not violence as a form of conflict resolution.
We will also work with local partners, families and communities in our efforts to ensure our school understands and embraces our local context and values in challenging extremist views and to assist in the broadening of our pupils' experiences and horizons.
We will help support pupils who may be vulnerable to such influences as part of our wider safeguarding responsibilities and where we believe a pupil is being directly affected by extremist materials or influences we will ensure that that pupil is offered mentoring. Additionally in such instances our school will seek external support from the Local Authority and/or local partnership structures working to prevent extremism.
At Priory Woods School & Arts College we will promote the values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, mutual respect and tolerance for those with different faiths and beliefs. We will teach and encourage pupils to respect one another and to respect and tolerate difference, especially those of a different faith or no faith.
At Priory Woods School & Arts College we encourage the use of external agencies or speakers and performers to enrich the experiences of our pupils, however we will positively vet those external agencies, individuals or speakers who we engage to provide such learning opportunities or experiences for our pupils.
Activities are carefully evaluated by the school to ensure that they are effective.
Where there are concerns of extremism or radicalisation pupils, staff and Governors will be encouraged to make use of our internal systems to Whistle Blow or raise any issue in confidence.
They must inform the Head teacher straight away (or if it relates to the Head teacher inform the Chair of Governors).
Please refer to our Safeguarding Policy for the full procedural framework on our Safeguarding and Child Protection duties.
The Governing Body of our School will undertake appropriate training to ensure that they are clear about their role and the parameters of their responsibilities as Governors, including their statutory safeguarding duties.
The Governing Body of our school will support the ethos and values of our school and will support the school in tackling extremism and radicalisation.
In line with the provisions set out in the DfE guidance 'Keeping Children Safe in Education, March 2015' the Governing Body will challenge the school's senior management team on the delivery of this policy and monitor its effectiveness.
Governors will review this policy as required.