Prevent in Newcastle

Newcastle is a safe, diverse and largely tolerant city, but we cannot be complacent. Prevent is part of the Government’s counter-terrorism strategy CONTEST and is designed to safeguard vulnerable people and communities from the threat of radicalisation and being drawn into terrorism. 

If you wish to make an immediate Prevent Referral then please go to the following link Prevent Referral Form and select the ‘continue’ button.

In an emergency where your own or others' safety is at risk call 999.

Prevent 

What is Prevent?

Prevent works in a similar way to programmes designed to safeguard people from gangs, drug abuse, and physical and sexual abuse. In practice, it provides an enhanced response to tackle the causes of radicalisation, in communities and online; continued effective support to those who are vulnerable to radicalisation; and disengagement from terrorist activities by those already engaged in or supporters of terrorism.

Prevent has the following objectives:

Tackle the causes of radicalisation and respond to the ideological challenge of terrorism. Safeguard and support those most at risk of radicalisation through early intervention, identifying them and offering support . Enable those who have already engaged in terrorism to disengage and rehabilitate.

What is extremism?

Extremism is 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.

What is Channel?

Channel is a multi-agency safeguarding programme run in every local authority in England and Wales. Through the Channel programme, we work with a range of partners including Northumbria Police, education establishments and the NHS.

The programme works to protect vulnerable people (adults, children and young people) from being drawn into terrorism and provides a range of support such as mentoring, counselling and help with employment.

Participation in Channel is voluntary. It's up to an individual, or their parents for children aged 17 and under, to decide whether to take up the support it offers. Participating in Channel does not lead to a criminal record. 

Radicalisation

What it means to  when someone is radicalised

Radicalisation is the process someone goes through when they start to believe extremist ideas and develop support for terrorism.

Many factors could lead to someone being radicalised and part of our work is to try and stop this from happening.

What causes people to become radicalised

We know that people become radicalised for different reasons, and that’s why we work with lots of different organisations to spot worrying behaviour so we can help people at risk of radicalisation, early on.

Mental health, substance abuse and social circumstances like a breakdown in a family can all be crucial factors in radicalisation but everyone is different.

A number of complex factors can lead to someone being radicalised and every individual will be different.
 

Warning signs that someone is being radicalised 

Every individual is different but the warning signs could include:

•    cutting ties with friends and family
•    starting to support violence
•    being un-interested in activities they previously liked to do
•    researching extremist material on a computer or phone
•    following or speaking to extremists on social media
 

The focus of Prevent in Newcastle

Our focus

The focus of prevent in Newcastle is:

To keep children and adults safe from extremist grooming and offer help early – before someone gets drawn into terrorism.

We work with individuals and communities before a crime has been committed and to safeguard and support the most vulnerable from being radicalised.

Our work focuses on:

•    Ideology: challenging the ideological arguments or beliefs of terrorism and the threat we face from anyone trying to promote it
•    Individuals: preventing people from being drawn into terrorism and make sure they are given appropriate advice and support
•    Institutions: working with schools, colleges, community centres and places of worship where people may be affected by radicalisation

This involves delivering training and raising awareness of Prevent so that the signs of radicalisation can be recognised in individuals showing concerning behaviour.

Education, resources and guidance 

The Prevent Duty in Education

As an education practitioner you must safeguard children and young people in England from extremists and extremist views in school. The council, Government and the Prevent Team have a range of advice and support available.

The Department for Education’s (DfE's) ‘Prevent’ duty states that we must “safeguard children and young people in England from extremists and extremist views in school and in out of school hours learning, and stop young people from becoming radicalised or acting on extreme views.'

On 1 July 2015, the DfE published advice about the 'prevent duty' in the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 for:

•    School leaders, school staff and governing bodies in all local-authority-maintained schools, academies and free schools;
•    Proprietors, governors and staff in all independent schools;
•    Proprietors, managers and staff in childcare settings.

It will be of particular interest to safeguarding leads.
 

Local Guidance for Schools

The Prevent team in Newcastle offer a range of free opportunities and resources to support education settings in meeting the Prevent Duty on both a proactive and reactive basis. 

This offer includes:

• In-house and centralised staff training opportunities 
• Policy advice and guidance, such as risk assessment templates
• Tailored support and responses to concerns or referrals around at-risk individuals
• Pupil engagement sessions and curriculum materials, quality assured lessons for all key stages

What steps can I take to keep children safe online?

You can switch on family friendly filters to help prevent age inappropriate content being accessed on devices in your home. 

• The UK Safer Internet Centre provides guidance on how to do this.
• Internet Matters has also provided step by step guides on how to setup parental controls.
   

How to book your free training and access free resources

Contact the Prevent Education Officer

Email: gail.forbes@newcastle.gov.uk  

Telephone: 0191 277 2066 or 07817 549718 

Ofsted on the Web and on social media

Ofsted webpage

Find an Ofsted inspection report

Ofsted news (YouTube)

Ofsted Twitter 

Education resources for home education during COVID-19

This list of online education resources for home education includes resources to support your child’s mental wellbeing.

Online Safety 

Education Against Hate Parents' Hub

Educate Against Hate Parents’ Hub provides resources and government advice for parents and carers on keeping young people safe from extremism.

Let's Talk About It

Let’s Talk About It provides support for parents and carers to keep children safe from online radicalisation.

UK Safer Internet Centre

UK Safer Internet Centre has guides on the privacy settings, parental controls and internet safety features of the major internet service providers.

Parent Zone 

Parent Zone works with Prevent to provide digital safety advice for parents.

Thinkuknow

Thinkuknow provides resources for parents and carers to help keep children safe online.

Childnet - Guidance for parents and carers

•    Childnet has developed guidance for parents and carers to begin a conversation about online safety, and on keeping under-fives safe online.

Parent Info

Parent Info provides digital support and guidance for parents and carers from leading experts and organisations

NSPCC guidance for parents and carers

NSPCC guidance for parents and carers is designed to help keep children safe online. 

NSPCC Your guide to social networks, apps and gaming

NSPCC Net Aware website, produced in collaboration with O2, provides specific safety information on popular apps and websites.

Childline

Childline can provide advice and support if your child is worried, from dialling 0800 1111 or downloading the ‘For Me’ app.

Report your concerns 

Online Prevent Referral form (Newcastle)

If you wish to make an immediate Prevent Referral, please go to the following link Prevent Referral Form and select the ‘continue’ button

Newcastle Prevent Team

If you're worried about someone being drawn into extremism or terrorism or you are unsure what to do, you can contact the council’s Prevent Coordinator in the Community Safety Team on 0191 277 2072 or email prevent@newcastle.gov.uk

Police 

In an emergency where your own or others' safety is at risk call 999 or 101 in non-emergency.

Anti-Terrorist Hotline

If you are concerned about a person may do something to harm themselves and/or other people, you can call the Anti-Terrorist Hotline on 0800 789 321

Report online material promoting terrorism or extremism

You can report any illegal terrorist information, pictures, videos found on the internet through the Government's website:  https://www.gov.uk/report-terrorism

National and local documents

National documents

The Prevent Strategy

The Prevent duty guidance

The Channel Duty Guidance

The Government’s CONTEST Strategy

Counter Terrorism Policing - focus is countering terrorism, not lawful  protest (17 January 2020)

Education  (Department of Education)

The Prevent duty: Departmental advice for schools and childcare providers

Local documents 

Please contact the  council’s Prevent Coordinator in the Community Safety Team on 0191 277 2072  or  0771 0845 366 or email prevent@newcastle.gov.uk

Online learning (free)

Prevent Awareness eLearning 

E-learning training on Prevent - Home Office 

This offers an introduction to the Prevent duty, and explain show it aims to safeguard vulnerable people from being radicalised to supporting terrorism or becoming terrorist  themselves. 

Channel Awareness  eLearning

E-Learning Channel Awareness - Home Office

This course will help you understand  the objectives of the programme, working process and roles and responsibilities. Also, it will share key learnings and best practice.

Prevent Referrals eLearning 

E-Learning Prevent Referrals - Home Office

This training requires a basic understanding of Prevent and the Notice Check Share procedure, which is applied when there is a concern, proportionate response to that. 

Action Counter Terrorism (ACT) awareness eLearning 

ACT Awareness eLearning - National Counter Terrorism Security Office 

This training is devised by Counter Terrorism (CT) officers and security experts. ACT awareness eLearning  will provide you with a nationally recognised corporate CT guidance to help people better understand, and mitigate against, current terrorist methodology. 

Contact

For further information, please contact the Prevent Team:

Joe Hogan, Prevent Coordinator Tel: 0771 0845366

Gail Forbes, Prevent Education Officer Tel: 07817 549 718

Email: prevent@newcastle.gov.uk