🚓Prevent Duty Policy

This policy was adopted on 30 August 2022 and is reviewed annually

This policy is prepared using the following publications;

Gov “Revised Prevent duty guidance:for England and Wales (April 2021)"

Gov “Keeping children safe in schools (September 2021)”

DfE "Working Together to Safeguard Children (2018)"

Policy Statement

From 1 July 2015 all schools, registered early years childcare providers and registered later years childcare providers (referred to in this advice as ‘childcare providers’) are 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. It applies to a wide range of public-facing bodies.

What is Extremism – the Prevent Duty

Working Together to Safeguard Children (2018) defines extremism. It states “Extremism goes beyond terrorism and includes people who target the vulnerable – including the young – by seeking to sow division between communities on the basis of race, faith or denomination; justify discrimination towards women and girls; persuade others that minorities are inferior; or argue against the primacy of democracy and the rule of law in our society.

Extremism is defined in the Counter Extremism Strategy 2015 as the vocal or active opposition to our fundamental values, including the rule of law, individual liberty and the mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs. We also regard calls for the death of members of our armed forces as extremist”

What is Radicalism?

Radicalism refers to the process by which a person comes to support terrorism and forms of extremism. Protecting children from the risk of radicalisation is seen as part of Natural Nurture Nursery’s wider safeguarding duties, and is similar in nature to protecting children from other forms of harm and abuse. During the process of radicalisation it is possible to intervene to prevent vulnerable people being radicalised

There is no single way of identifying an individual who is likely to be susceptible to an extremist ideology. It can happen in many different ways and settings. Specific background factors may contribute to vulnerability which are often combined with specific influences such as family, friends or online, and with specific needs for which an extremist or terrorist group may appear to provide an answer.

The internet and the use of social media in particular has become a major factor in the radicalisation of young people.

Radicalisation is a form of harm. The process may involve:

• Being groomed online or in person

• Exploitation, including sexual exploitation

• Psychological manipulation

• Exposure to violent material and other inappropriate information

• The risk of physical harm or death through extremist acts.

Constant Practice and Procedure

At Natural Nurture Nursery it is essential that staff are able to identify children who may be vulnerable to radicalisation, and know what to do when they are identified. All the nursery staff, particularly the staff who work directly with the children are expected to assess the risk of children being drawn into terrorism, including support for extremist ideas that are part of terrorist ideology.

What we are looking for?

• Changes in family behaviour e.g a sudden disrespectful attitude towards other, isolating themselves from family & friends

• Changes in the children’s behaviour, eg aggression towards others

• Comments made by a child which may cause concern, e.g. commenting on what their mummy or daddy has said, talking about fighting for “the cause” etc

• Comments made by family members, e.g about certain faiths, beliefs, cultures, with an unwillingness or inability to discuss their views.

• Any other signs that family members may be showing extremism.

Protecting children from the risk of radicalisation should is seen as the Natural Nurture’s wider safeguarding duties, and is similar in nature to protecting children from other harms (e.g. drugs, gangs, neglect, sexual exploitation), whether these come from within their family or are the product of outside influences.

Staff should use their professional judgement in identifying children who might be at risk of radicalisation and act proportionately which may include making a referral to the Channel program (see appendix one for further information on Channel)

What we do to eliminate extremism and support acceptance at Natural Nurture

We support children through the teaching of personal, social and emotional skills and development and enable children to be accepting and tolerant of other’s views and beliefs whilst challenging constructively what they disagree with. We do this by

• Working through disagreements with their peers over resource sharing, activity choosing and role taking

• Role modelling desired behaviours and mannerisms

• Talking about feelings and opinions

• Celebrating all faiths and beliefs

• Supporting British Values (see British Values policy)

We will also...

• Train all staff to understand what is meant by the Prevent Duty and radicalisation

• Ensure staff understand how to recognise early indicators of potential radicalisation and terrorism threats and act on them appropriately in line with national and local procedures

• Make any referrals relating to extremism to the police (or the Government helpline) in a timely way, sharing relevant information as appropriate

• Use the Government document Prevent Duty Guidance for England and Wales.

Procedure for reporting concerns

• If a member of staff has a concern about a particular child they should follow the nursery’s normal safeguarding procedures, including discussing with the nursery’s designated safeguarding lead.

• If the child is not in immediate danger they should call 101 (the non emergency police phone number) and ask to speak to the Sussex Police Prevent Team. They can talk to you in confidence about your concerns and help you gain access to support and advice. Also, they can advise if this would be a case for Channel or email them at [e-mail]

• If the child is in immediate danger they should call 999

• 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 [e-mail]

💂‍♂️British Values

We are an inclusive setting and our ethos and curriculum enables children to be independent learners, to make choices and to build strong relationships with their peers and all adults.

Our setting believes that children flourish best when their personal, social and emotional needs are met and where there are clear and developmentally appropriate expectations for their behaviour.

Our aim is to promote British values by providing a wide range of resources and activities that reflect and value the diversity of children’s experiences and actively challenge gender, cultural and racial stereotyping. We also aim to support children to gain an understanding of people, families and communities beyond their own immediate experience. We would challenge children, staff or parents who expressed opinions contrary to fundamental British values.

Democracy: Making Decisions together

We respect, listen to and act on children's and parent's voice. We will:

• Encourage children to see their role in the larger community

• Value theirs and each others views

• Talk about their personal feelings

• Let them know their view counts

• Support the decisions the children make and provide activities that involve turn taking, sharing and collaboration.

• Give them opportunities to develop enquiring minds in an atmosphere where questions are valued.

Promoting Democracy – everyone has a voice and is listened to;

• In group times we listen to their ideas and implement them in planning

• Using thoughtful questions and comments we encourage children to listen to each others ideas and work together as a team

• We teach children to work together, the older children help the younger children

• We plan group times where children learn to listen, take turns and value contributions from others

• We offer opportunities for children to share stories from their home life and on topics that are important to them.

• Children have the freedom to choose resources and activities during free play

The Rule of Law: Understanding that rules matter

As part of the focus in PSED on managing feelings and behaviour, we will

• Ensure that children understand their own and others behaviour and its consequences.

• Support children to distinguish right from wrong.

• Collaborate with children to create the rules and codes of behaviour.

• We use positive strategies to encourage good behaviour and comment on how proud we are of their achievements and how proud they must be.

• We allow children to take well managed risks such as completing an obstacle course and encourage them to be proud of their achievements.

• We talk about our feelings and plan activities to help children name and recognise them.

• We allow children to develop self knowledge eg All About Me where they can explore how we look, similarities and differences by extending own play, by encouraging and by being constantly challenged.

• Children are encouraged to take responsibility on daily routine activities, they are encouraged to tidy up, clean, and look after thing this promotes self-esteem and self-confidence, building upon skills for late life.

• We celebrate different cultures, religions and backgrounds, supporting knowledge and understanding of each child’s individual backgrounds and promoting a wider community.

Mutual Respect and tolerance: treat others as you want to be treated

As part of the focus on People & Communities, Managing Feelings & Behaviour and Making Relationships as cited in PSED and Understanding the World. We will;

• Create an ethos of inclusivity and tolerance where views, faiths, cultures and races are valued and children are engaged with the wider community.

• Ensure children acquire a tolerance and appreciation of and respect for their own and other cultures; know about similarities and differences between themselves and others and among families, faiths, communities, cultures and traditions and share and discuss practices, celebrations and experiences.

• Encourage and explain the importance of tolerant behaviours such as sharing and respecting other’s opinions

• Promote diverse attitudes and challenge stereotypes

• Promoting Mutual Respect and Tolerance

• We respect children’s decisions and support their own decision making process.

• We teach children to be kind, helpful and respectful of others

• We teach children about the world around them and use the seasons, weather, food, music, and special days to plan meaningful learning experiences

• We celebrate festivals and mark special days from the world around us.

• We encourage children, parents, farm hands and visitors to share their knowledge on different cultures, religions and backgrounds to support the development of each child’s understanding and acceptance of others beliefs.

Appendix one

Channel

Channel is a programme which focuses on providing support at an early stage to people who are identified as being vulnerable to being drawn into terrorism. It provides a mechanism for schools to make referrals if they are concerned that an individual might be vulnerable to radicalisation. An individual’s engagement with the programme is entirely voluntary at all stages.

Section 36 of the CTSA 2015 places a duty on local authorities to ensure Channel panels are in place. The panel must be chaired by the local authority and include the police for the relevant local authority area. Following a referral the panel will assess the extent to which identified individuals are vulnerable to being drawn into terrorism, and, where considered appropriate and necessary consent is obtained, arrange for support to be provided to those individuals.

Channel is available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/channel-guidance