Parents /Carers Stay Safe Workshop

Thank you to those parents and carers of Year 9 and Year 10 students who attended the Stay Safe Workshop on Wednesday night.

The workshop was led by Challenge Academy who were the company who facilitated the Year 9 Stay Safe Days back in May in conjunction with Safer Hart. The theme was equipping young people with the knowledge and awareness of the tactics used by criminal gangs linked to the County Lines drug dealing network, the resilience to resist advances and the sense of togetherness to report to an adult if they are worried about one of their friends.

 The parents participated enthusiastically in the session and there was a really fruitful Question and Answer section afterwards, in which we discussed the importance of students and parents being aware of warning signs and adopting the mantra which we use in our regular staff safeguarding training which is that ‘It does happen here.’ We think that this is really important that we all recognise that Hart District is a prime target for criminal activity with its relative affluence and transport links into major cities and towns. We were also asked about what the school does with information that is shared with us and we encourage parents and carers, along with the students, to inform us of any concerns that you might have using our dedicated Safeguarding email address safeguarding@rmays.com. Members of the Public can also report something they have seen or heard by using https://www.police.uk/pu/contact-the-police/seen-or-heard/

We will share a fuller list of resources that are recommended by Challenge Academy in due course. They did recommend that parents watch the BBC drama County Lines which is available on BBC Iplayer on this link https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0015q9c/county-lines. Warning: this is extremely gritty and contains scenes of sexual violence, extremely strong and discriminatory language and upsetting scenes so should be watched with caution. However, it does exemplify the way that organised criminal gangs prey on young people. A much shorter clip, with a very similar story to the drama presented by the actors in the workshop, can be found below.
 

Thanks again to those parents who attended and Mrs Wingfield who organised the event. Please look out for invites for further parental workshops such as this, as we will be expanding our programme of these next year and those parents who attended reported that they found it really thought-provoking and helpful.