Preventing Extremism & Radicalisation Policy

2022

# This policy should be read in conjunction with key national and local legislation, guidance and policies – see Appendix 4 for full bibliography.

1. POLICY CONTEXT

The United Kingdom’s Strategy for Countering Terrorism, entitled CONTEST and as referenced in the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015, contains four key work streams: Pursue, Prevent, Protect and Prepare. Each work stream comprises a number of key objectives. This Policy deals with the Prevent work stream only.

## Prevent

The aim of the Prevent strategy is to reduce the threat to the UK from terrorism by stopping people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism.

Guidance in England and Wales, see Appendix 4, explains the obligations for specified authorities to have due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism.

2. POLICY STATEMENT

Franksbridge School is fully committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all its pupils. Every member of staff recognises that safeguarding against radicalisation and extremism is no different from safeguarding against any other vulnerability in today’s society. The Preventing Extremism and Radicalisation Policy sets out our beliefs, strategies and procedures to protect vulnerable individuals from being radicalised or exposed to extremist views, by identifying who they are and promptly providing them with support.

3. AIMS AND PRINCIPLES

The Franksbridge Primary School’s Preventing Extremism and Radicalisation Policy is intended to provide a framework for dealing with issues relating to vulnerability, radicalisation and exposure to extreme views. We recognise that we are well placed to be able to identify safeguarding issues and this policy clearly sets out how the school will deal with such incidents and identifies how the curriculum and ethos underpins our actions. The objectives are that:

- • governors, teachers, teaching assistants and non-teaching staff will have an understanding • governors, teachers, teaching assistants and non-teaching staff will have an understanding of what radicalisation and extremism are and why we need to be vigilant in school.
- • governors, teachers, teaching assistants and non-teaching staff will know what the school • governors, teachers, teaching assistants and non-teaching staff will know what the school policy is on tackling extremism and radicalisation and will follow the policy guidance swiftly when issues arise.
- • pupils will understand the dangers of radicalisation and exposure to extremist views; building • pupils will understand the dangers of radicalisation and exposure to extremist views; building resilience against these and knowing what to do if they experience them.
- • parents/carers and pupils will know that the school has policies in place to keep pupils safe • parents/carers and pupils will know that the school has policies in place to keep pupils safe from harm and that the school regularly reviews its systems to ensure they are appropriate and effective.

The main aims of this policy are to ensure that all staff are fully engaged in being vigilant about radicalisation; that they overcome professional disbelief that such issues will happen here and ensure that we work alongside other professional bodies and agencies to ensure that our pupils are safe from harm.

4. INDICATORS OF VULNERABILITY TO RADICALISATION

Radicalisation refers to the process by which a person comes to support terrorism and forms of extremism leading to terrorism. Extremism is defined by the Government in the Prevent Strategy as:

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. We also include in our definition of extremism calls for the death of members of our armed forces, whether in this country or overseas.