Free Support for Warwickshire Schools to Tackle Prejudice and Hate!

Young people are particularly vulnerable to being both a victim and a perpetrator of hate and prejudice as their views and understanding are still developing and can easily be persuaded by their peers, by the media or by other sources.

In Warwickshire, there are two main sources of support and education that schools can access to help raise awareness to their students of prejudice and hate and the impact this can have on those subjected to it.

Warwickshire Police: Sophie Lancaster Hate Crime Workshops

Warwickshire Police Youth Engagement and Safer Schools Team offer 1 hour workshops on the theme of Hate Crime and intolerance. Using resources and training from the Sophie Lancaster Foundation, officers from the team can deliver thoughtful and impactful workshops for years 6-8 on the subject of hatred and intolerance. Sophie Lancaster was tragically attacked and killed in 2007, simply for the way she looked, we use the story of Sophie to demonstrate prejudice and discrimination and the ultimate tragic consequences of hate in our communities. Pupils will take part in a practical exercise which will see them work in small teams with a number of challenges designed to challenge their perceptions and prejudices getting them to actively think and engage.

The sessions also introduce the strands of hate crime, hate crime is an offence committed against a person or property that is motivated by an offender's hostility or prejudice towards someone because of their: religion, sexual orientation, disability, transgender or alternative subcultures or Lifestyle and Dress.

The team cover the whole of Warwickshire and any school is welcome to have us deliver the Workshop to pupils. Contact PC 899 Darren Lund for further details darren.lund@warwickshire.pnn.police.uk  or youth@warwickshire.pnn.police.uk to discuss delivery.

Victim Support

One-to-one support:
We have a dedicated specialist team who provide free and confidential emotional and practical support to young people aged between 4 and 18 who have either been the victim of or witnessed crime, including Hate Crime. Our role is to help them cope and recover from the incident and give them the opportunity to talk about what has happened if they want to, but more importantly how they are now feeling. Every young person will have an individual tailored support plan that could include: developing coping strategies, confidence & self-esteem building and dealing with emotions such as anger, to name only a few.

Primary School Assemblies:
We have recognised the importance of preventative work and awareness raising alongside our core service of providing 1-1 support. With this in mind, we have created an initiative whereby we go into Primary Schools and deliver an age-appropriate assembly around Hate Crime. These assemblies get young people to recognise and celebrate each other’s differences and reinforce this message by providing schools with the resources to create visual display boards of gingerbread men decorated to represent themselves. We discuss how some people do not celebrate our differences and speak about what hate crime is, the effect it can have and also what to do if they or someone they know is affected by it. Pupils are asked to sign a pledge to “Join Hands Against Hate Crime”, showing solidarity as a school that they will not accept any form of hate crime, not only within their school, but also their communities. We provide each school with a canvas that has this pledge on, and each child puts their fingerprint onto the canvas as an age-appropriate way of signing it. This is then left for the school to display as a visual reminder of the preventative message; it is not only a conversation starter between the pupils as they walk past it, but also for any visitors the school may have. There is no charge for these assemblies and we provide the schools with all necessary resources. The schools we have been into so far have not had a problem with Hate Crime; these schools have shared our view that it is important to raise awareness of this issue.

Secondary Schools Group Work:
Taking a different approach for secondary schools, we are accredited to deliver Sophie Lancaster Foundation’s educational game in Secondary Schools. We deliver awareness and preventative sessions to small groups and classes within schools around Hate Crime, working in partnership with Warwickshire Police’s Youth Engagement Team as much as we can. The game allows young people to openly discuss their current prejudices against people and have them appropriately challenged. This leads into activities and a presentation around what hate crime is, the effects it can have and where they can seek support. Again, there is no charge for these workshops and we provide the schools with all necessary resources.

We are also very happy to discuss with schools any particular topic or approach they feel will be better suited for their young people. If you would like to discuss these services further, please contact:

Ben Donagh – Senior Children & Young Peoples Caseworker ben.donagh@victimsupport.org.uk (07785542074 / 02476351003)

REMINDER: Reporting a prejudice-related incident

All prejudice-related incidents taking place in schools should be reported to Warwickshire County Council's Equality Team by completing the Prejudice Related Incident Form which can be found here: www.warwickshire.gov.uk/equalityanddiversityforschools