The Prevent duty is a government strategy to protect people from becoming involved in acts of terrorism or extremism. From July 2015, all schools and colleges must have strategies in place to ensure the identification of students who may be vulnerable to radicalisation, and then to know what do to if they are identified. Radicalisation is the process by which an individual or group comes to adopt increasingly extreme political, social or religious ideals that reject and/or undermine contemporary ideas and expressions of freedom of choice. Extremism means vocal or active opposition to fundamental British values and/or calls for the death of members of the British armed forces, whether in this country or overseas.

What does this look like in College?

Colleges have a duty to educate students, providing them with the knowledge, skills and understanding to prepare them to play a full and active role in society. We aim to ensure that students can explore political and social issues critically, to use evidence to make reasoned arguments.  We work hard to uphold fundamental British Values and the Prevent strategy. We are proud to be a College that is built upon building positive, productive relationships with others. All staff at St Dominic’s have received training in spotting the potential signs that someone may be vulnerable to extremism or radicalisation. These can include:

• writing about racial or religious violence
• communication (verbally, in writing or posting online) that is intended to stir up hatred against religious or non-religious groups

Our Prevent Strategy is explained to students in tutorials and is designed to keep our young people safe and well informed. The College internet has been designed to block access to sites known to incite hatred or inappropriate comments. Filters on the internet block these sites. The College also vets visitors to the site and all those who work with students.

A copy of the Prevent Policy can be viewed here.