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London teachers trained to spot terror recruits at age 11
Tim Ross, Education Correspondent3 Feb 2010
Teachers in London are being trained to spot Islamist and other extremist attitudes among children as young as 11.
It comes after the Met revealed children were being groomed for Islamic extremism, with some talking about becoming suicide bombers.
The initiative by Waltham Forest council also involves teaching pupils how to deal with attitudes among classmates. There were a series of police raids in the borough in 2006 over the transatlantic airline bomb plot.
Teachers in Waltham Forest have made a high number of referrals to the police over pupils they fear may be at risk of radicalisation.
The scheme “Learning Together To Be Safe” covers al Qaeda, Irish Republican terror groups, animal rights extremists and the BNP. The programme includes measures such as training teachers in working with the police. There will also be lessons covering British identity and cultural differences. Rachel Macfarlane, head of Walthamstow School for Girls, said staff needed to know how to handle pupils' concerns.
She said: “The concern is that if people feel upset about how they are treated, that's when maybe they begin to be alienated.”
She said the drive involved “training staff and students to be aware of indicators of potentially extremist attitudes and what to do if you have any concerns about young people in your family, street or at school who you think might be susceptible to being indoctrinated”.
The Government's Channel Project was set up after the 7/7 attacks. It focused on encouraging teachers and parents to look out for warning signs of extremist behaviour.
A total of 228 people, the majority from London, have been referred to the project. More than 90 per cent of those identified are between 15 and 24 and most are Muslim.
The Government's national strategy for preventing extremism in schools, on which the Waltham Forest scheme is based, was published in 2008. A report warned that primary school pupils were heard in the playground praising the 7/7 “martyrs” and claiming it was “the duty of all true Muslims to prepare for jihad”. All schools have been asked to provide a designated teacher whom pupils can approach with concerns over extremism.
Reader views (9)
Veritas Noire - you forgot to mention that the Soho bomber joined the BNP for one year and then left (before his bombings) because it was not "extreme" enough for him! Also, in the recent case involving illegal weapons, etc., the convicted person was, once again, an EX member of the BNP, who'd left some while ago. Perhaps it would help if all convicted persons had their party affiliations (whether current or not) mentioned in court, then we could see exactly how many criminals come from the Lib/Lab/CONS as well! How about these for starters: Dennis Nilsen, ACTIVE member of the Labour Party and the Anti-Nazi League; Fred West, member of the Labour Party.
- Chelsey, London ex-pat, 04/02/2010 17:10
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Veritas Noire, Purley
You truly are ignorant as your post has showed. 2 incidents of right wing extremists , .... counter that with the billions spent on muslim extremism , immigrants , health tourists , foreign aid to undeserving countries .... and you might begin to understand why some are questioning the inclusion of the BNP in this charade. I wish teachers could stick to teaching maths , english , history etc , along with moral values , DISCIPLINE ... which under lie bour and the human rights degenerate brigade is no more. The face of London has changed irreversibly , not for the better in my opinion , indigenous people of London have lost their identity , have been forced to accept ethnic diversity under the guise of liebours ' new world dream ' . I am just glad that I live in the country , where my daughter ( aged 4 1/2) can go to a 99% whites school and learn about other cultures ( she knows about Divali and Chinese New Year now ) , but not have ethnicity shoved down her throat ... because you know what ... why cant she know about how great the UK once was , how significantly less crime there was before mass immigration . Ethnicity is unrepresentative and does great disservice to the millions that sacrificed themselves in order to make the UK a free democracy.
- Paulie, uk, 04/02/2010 12:40
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Mark, I guess you have forgotten the Brixton, Brick Lane and Soho bombings carried out by a right wing, white supremacist, terrorist thug. Ordinary Londoners were horribly maimed and killed! You have forgotten the BNP supporter found with a deadly arsenal of weapons in his house. Luckily he was caught before he could carry out a terrorist outrage, killing and maiming more people. The racist BNP deny the holocaust, support Hitler and share platforms with white terrorist organisations. Thats why they are included. Get it now?
- Veritas Noire, Purley, 04/02/2010 11:54
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I read you article with interest and thought it should not just be the teachers in the London area that should be taught this, I live outside the M25 and my 8 year old came home very upset and worried one day after a school assembly. He was near another child who instead of singing the correct words to a song was singing about celebrating killing his (our) family and also another child and their family. The school did deal with this and bought his family in to deal with, but where does an 8 year old get the idea that you should celebrate killing, especially families!?
- A Concerned Parent, Surrey, 03/02/2010 17:25
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Are these teacher's or Cover Supervisors?
- Gareth, London, 03/02/2010 16:58
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How on earth can they compare the BNP with Al Queda? I wouldn't vote for them, but as far as I'm aware they haven't killed anybody. More thought policing?
Also teachers aren't allowed to put a plaster on an injured child or break-up a fight, but they can report 'behaviour' to the security services. WOW!!!
- Mark, London, 03/02/2010 16:32
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45 years ago, Public School CCF taught us all how to infiltrate invaders via English ditches in small squads. We handled .22s, .303s, and fired Brens. In our spare time we staged small electrically-fired underground explosions (the son of a Bishop turned us in, for that). 'Boys will be boys'. Make sure they're on the right side.
- Steve, London, England, 03/02/2010 15:15
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this should be interesting. All the teachers I ever met were either raving Marxist loonies or Liberal Democrats and nothing inbetween. Both of which seem to me to poorly placed to determine the status of so called extremist anythings.
Perhaps we should just ask the kiddlies themselves to describe the varieties of vest that they are aware of.
Those that only say Bullet Proof or Explosive would be my suggestion.
- Ethan, EUSSR, 03/02/2010 13:32
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Excellent news. Now all we need to do is train them to teach kids how to read and write and we're laughing.
- East, London, 03/02/2010 13:04
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