Safeguarding – Why implementing Prevent is a collective responsibility
Consistently observing the Prevent duty can be onerous – which is why adopting a whole school approach is the best way of getting the job done
Implementing the Prevent duty
Safeguarding – Why implementing Prevent is a collective responsibility
Consistently observing the Prevent duty can be onerous – which is why adopting a whole school approach is the best way of getting the job done
Implementing the Prevent duty effectively requires consistency, transparency and above all, a whole school approach. All of this is necessary to ensure that appropriate support is available at all times for individuals who may demonstrate vulnerabilities to radicalisation.
Seen from a certain perspective, this is merely an extension of safeguarding procedures that schools will have been following for many years to protect young people from child sexual exploitation, drugs and assorted other forms of harm.
There are, however, certain issues and compliance considerations unique to Prevent and the areas it’s intended to tackle. So what can schools do to help manage those challenges in an effective, practical and ultimately sustainable way?
1. Sufficient planning
The key to formulating a successful Prevent strategy is to first carry out detailed planning that involves all members of the school community. Schools can begin this process by nominating an individual staff member as their Prevent lead, and then establishing a Prevent working group tasked with setting out a clear, shared vision.
This group could potentially include members of SLT, your DSL, the school’s PSHE/RSHE lead, any staff charged with leading on CPD and a member of the governing body.
Of course, assuming you’re able to pull together the staff you have in mind, it may not be practical for everyone to attend all sessions. The most important consideration, however, is that the working group is able to communicate effectively – chiefly by ensuring all stakeholders are regularly updated on any developments, and given opportunities to share their progress.
A good starting point for your Prevent working group’s activities could be to carry out a baseline survey to identify immediate Prevent priorities – such as building staff confidence around current vulnerabilities, or promoting a consistent understanding of what’s meant by ‘British values’.
2. Policy and practice
The working group’s initial findings and discussions should then be carefully assessed, and used to embed an overarching Prevent strategy into the wider school culture.
As well as reviewing your school’s policy and practices around Prevent, this is a good time for undertaking a risk assessment – informed by engagement with your LA’s Prevent team – of potential harms present within
This needn’t be a Prevent-specific exercise. Indeed, it could potentially be incorporated into your wider local risk assessment processes. That said, implementing the Prevent duty is far from a ‘tick-box’ exercise.
To that end, LGfL – The National Grid for Learning has partnered with the DfE to develop a Prevent Self-Assessment Tool specifically for schools, the purpose of which is to provide a practical overview of all Prevent areas to consider throughout the course of the academic year (see ‘Are you Prevent compliant?’ below).
3. Promoting British Values
Ofsted inspectors now actively look for evidence of how British values permeate throughout schools. Many settings have already undertaken some work in this area by reviewing their offerings in PSHE, RE and citizenship among other subjects, and combining these with extracurricular initiatives via assemblies, circle time, school councils and debating clubs to promote student voice and opportunities to discuss topical issues in a safe space.
Adopting a contextual approach to safeguarding is also helpful for embedding the foundational knowledge and skills that a