Safeguarding and Prevent
The ethos at Green Labyrinth is ‘Safeguarding is everyone's responsibility’, so safeguarding our learners is our highest priority.
We want to create a safe environment for all, within our centre and with our employers. We have a designated on-site safeguarding team which incorporates a prevent lead and a safeguarding policy which is reviewed in line with government guidance and updated annually.
All staff at Green Labyrinth have regular safeguarding and prevent training, and it forms an essential part of learner induction, probation and tutorial curriculum.
We also understand the importance of e-safety and strive to promote a safe online environment for our staff and learners.
You can read our safeguarding, e-safety and prevent policies here.
We pride ourselves on celebrating and promoting our diverse community with its many different ethnicities and religions. We also recognise however that in today’s world young people are faced with many pressures as they grow up and can often be influenced by strong feelings expressed by others in connection with a range of complex issues. Our overriding concern is that all our learners feel safe and also express tolerance towards all cultures and religions even when personal views may be different.
The PREVENT strategy incorporating one organisation called "Channel", is designed to protect people potentially at risk of being radicalised. There are a number of indicators that may possibly indicate that an individual may be being adversely targeted by an extremist group or cause, such as:
• Suddenly changing how they dress or their appearance
• High absence rate from college/work with no clear reason.
• Losing interest in friends or activities not associated with a particular ideology, with their behaviour becoming focused on an extreme idea or cause.
• Possessing or being associated with material or symbols associated with an extremist cause, being in communication with suspected extremists, use of internet or other social media sites associated with extremism.
Green Labyrinth fully endorses the PREVENT strategy that:
“Schools can help to protect children from extremist and violent views in the same ways that they help to safeguard children from drugs, gang violence or alcohol. Their purpose must be to protect children from harm and to ensure that they are taught in a way that is consistent with the law and our values."
“Colleges have an important role to play in Prevent, particularly in ensuring balanced debate as well as freedom of speech. They also have a clear responsibility to exercise their duty of care and to protect the welfare of their students. Staff can identify and offer support to students who may be drawn into extremism.”
Please be reassured that all of our learners are given information on staying safe in the school and wider community and are told about appropriate behaviour in terms of their day to day conduct and when using technology. We do follow up and refer any inappropriate or concerning behaviour and work closely with a range of other agencies, such as the Police and Social Care. Our Safeguarding Team are always available to discuss any issue you as parents/carers may be concerned about.
See gov.uk/government/publications/prevent-duty-guidance for more detailed guidance
If you require any further information about our policies and procedures, or would like to report a concern regarding a current learner or apprentice, please contact our team via email on safeguarding@greenlabyrinth.co.uk