Since last July, early years providers have been required to have ‘due regard’ to the need to prevent children from being drawn into terrorism. While for some settings the requirements for vigilant risk assessment form part of the safeguarding work they already do, others fear undermining relationships with families and eroding civil liberties. ‘It is about being vigilant but not spying, taking a balanced view and not being biased,’ says Chrissy Meleady, chief executive of Early Years Equality, who delivers training to local authorities and others on the Prevent duty.
Legal requirement
The legal requirement on settings is set out under section 26 of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015; the responsibility rests with leaders and managers who are responsible for safeguarding. Ofsted’s new inspection framework, implemented from last September, also includes reference to ‘providers promoting children’s welfare and preventing radicalisation and extremism’, and noticing changes in children’s behaviour which could indicate the need for protection. Ofsted has nominated a Prevent lead for the whole country, appointed regional champions and will have a specially trained lead inspector in each region.
Early years settings should:
- assess the risk of children being drawn into terrorism, including support for extremist ideas. This involves understanding safeguarding issues facing children in general and understanding how to identify specific at-risk children
- have clear procedures and policies for protecting children at risk of radicalisation
- take action when they observe behaviour of concern – for example, understanding when it is appropriate to make a referral to the local Channel panel. Channel is a programme that focuses on providing support at an early stage to people who are identified as being vulnerable to being drawn into terrorism
- ensure staff have training that gives them the knowledge and confidence to identify children at risk
- make sure children are safe from terrorist and extremist material online
- promote fundamental British values in order to build children’s resistance to radicalisation.
Vigilance
Ofsted says signs that may indicate possible safeguarding concerns include poor or irregular attendance, persistent lateness, children missing from education, forced marriage or female genital mutilation. ‘If a child has some worrying views, a practitioner might pick up something from their play, and become aware there may be harmful things in their life,’ says early years consultant and author Kathryn Solly, who delivers training on Prevent and British values. ‘It is about preventing children being turned into people who are not ideal citizens, as well as protecting them against being taken abroad to become part of a political group that is alien to the country we live in.’
Early years consultant Jacqui Hardie says keeping an eye on attendance is one of the most practical ways of spotting safeguarding issues. ‘Treetots Playgroup in Norfolk has taken an academic year calendar and put a copy in every child’s file, so if children have attendance issues they highlight the date and can spot any patterns appearing,’ she says. Vigilance should extend to staff members also: ‘It relates to being vigilant about members of staff, families or any adult around the child, in the same way that safeguarding a child does,’ says Purnima Tanuku, chief executive of the National Day Nurseries Association.
Ms Meleady says what is being expected of early years settings is not new – the National Community Safety Plan (2006-2009) and the Children’s Plan (2008) both highlighted the importance of work to prevent extremism. But she says settings should not sit back and think they are already doing what they need to do to meet the duty. ‘It’s just a matter of amplification, not thinking that just because you are doing the EYFS you are doing everything that has to be done around Prevent,’ she says.
Concerns
For some settings, the duty can be confusing, and the worry is it will undermine work around community cohesion, especially through misunderstanding. ‘Respect, trust and partnership are key elements in inclusive provision, but the Prevent requirements can be a blunt instrument, as demonstrated recently in the press,’ says early years consultant Mary Dickins. ‘I think staff and management in settings do need more anti-bias training and guidance on how to balance these requirements so as to enhance rather than undermine their positive relationships with families and communities.’
Practitioners at one nursery were unsure what to do when a four-year-old became aggressive to children from ethnic minority families, as they thought Prevent was only about terrorism. However, the Government defines extremism 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’.
‘Some people say there is no need for training in our area, we don’t have any Muslims,’ says Ms Meleady. ‘But in some areas, far-right extremism is more prominent than some other forms of extremism that are more traditionally focused on.’ The child was found to have been attending neo-Nazi camps with her parents and the local safeguarding team stepped in.
Training
‘The Channel training which is available (see box) doesn’t just discuss Muslims – it includes other British people and types of radical thinking, such as animals rights extremists and Northern Ireland terrorists,’ explains Ms Tanuku. The Home Office has developed a core training product, Workshop to Raise Awareness of Prevent (WRAP) – there are now a number of trained facilitators working within local authorities and the police. Training is also available from organisations such as Early Years Equality and Early Education.
Derbyshire County Council early years workforce development manager Claire Austin worked with Ms Meleady to put together some workshops for early years providers including PVI nurseries, childminders and maintained nursery schools.
‘In December we had two sessions for PVI nurseries, and around 80 people came,’ says Ms Austin. ‘Early years improvement officers also attended so they knew how to support the providers. We plan a session for childminders in March.’ The sessions covered British values linked to the Prevent agenda.
‘We talked about celebrating difference, similarities and challenges – preparing children for life in modern Britain – whether this is a rural or urban location,’ says Ms Austin. ‘When we talk about inclusion, anyone can be discriminated against and people can relate to that. But there are areas where we as a society don’t engage with particular groups as much, and individuals may not feel a sense of belonging, leading to potential isolation and radicalisation.’
The training also focused on children’s multiple identities – for example, being part of different cultures and also part of Britain – and how this can be promoted in a setting.
‘It was reassuring to know we are covering British values in what we are doing on a daily basis. This training put into perspective how policy fits into everyday good practice,’ says Louise Williams, owner/manager at Tiddlers Day Nursery in Alfreton, Derbyshire. ‘After reflecting on the training morning we were more confident and inspired to review our existing policies, procedures and practice. As a result we ran additional staff training to update and look at embedding new ideas with exciting ways of using current available resources.’
Settings should have local authority and police contact details for the Prevent programme near to hand. Providers should ideally identify someone who can liaise with the local Prevent co-ordinator, police and safeguarding services, and act as the point of contact to the local multi-agency Channel panel.
Policy changes
When it comes to policy, managers can add the Prevent duty to existing policy and practice, such as e-safety, recruitment and safeguarding. Any policy for booking rooms in the settings must stress that these cannot be used for the promotion of extremist or racist views. Ms Meleady also advises creating a specific Prevent action plan which brings everything together, including a list of criteria against which settings can self-assess their level of risk and a list of activities that can be undertaken to lessen risks when they are identified.
British values
The Prevent duty is often linked to the duty to promote British values, as one aspect of the duty is the requirement on settings to build resilience to radicalisation through the promotion of these values. However, there is some controversy in the sector as to how integrated the two approaches are. The NDNA’s Ms Tanuku says, ‘We don’t advise grouping together British values with the Prevent duty. They are two different things.’ However, Ms Meleady is equally clear that the promotion of inclusion and British values are ‘part of the toolkit of anti-radicalisation. They are not separate from each other. They are coming from the same place.’
See All about… British values
More information
Advice from the Department for Education to help providers understand what the Prevent duty means for them: www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/439598/prevent-duty-departmental-advice-v6.pdf
British Values In Early Years Settings & Play Services by Chrissy Meleady. Contains information and advice on implementing Prevent. For more information, email cm.eyequality@btinternet.com
NDNA publishes a fact sheet, Extremism and the Prevent Duty, which is free for members: www.ndna.org.uk/factsheets
The Pre-School Learning Alliance has published a mini guide to the Prevent duty: https://www.pre-school.org.uk/document/9241
The Government has published guidance on the Channel programme (part of the Prevent strategy) at www.gov.uk/government/publications/channel-guidance – and has an online training session that takes about 25 minutes to complete: http://course.ncalt.com/Channel_General_Awareness/01/index.html
