Lambeth NHW Association Education and Youth Engagement Programmes

From Philip Virgo as Development Lead for Neighbourhood Watch in Lambeth 

To NHW Contacts in Schools, Colleges and Youth Groups, including both Teachers and Students 

I am seeking suggestions as to what should be in the section on co-operation with Schools and Colleges with schools and colleges that is missing from the attached Lambeth NHWA.

I am also seeking comment on the attached Youth Engagement strategy in advance of asking schools and youth groups to host  consultation workshops.  

As a result of recent policing changes most secondary schools in Lambeth will have limited contact with part-time local Community police officers and PCSOs. There is likely to be a single officer to work with all primary schools.  

Across London schools are being encouraged to be active with local Neighbourhood Watch Groups and Safer Neighbourhood Panels, including to help draw in suitable volunteers with relevant experience and expertise to help them work with community police teams and/or  deliver relevant education experiences in line with the requirements of the national curriculum, including work experience opportunities with business watch participants.   . 

For example, one of the Lambeth NHW co-ordinators is a London Ambulance team lead who can organise uncharged sessions on emergency medicine to meet curriculum requirements. Their sessions would be “different” in that they include equipment, buckets of “Kensington gore” and are delivered by those with practical local experience, not just videos. They also convey a heartfelt message of “don’t carry a knife, it is more likely to be used on you”. Heart-felt because they have picked up too many of those stabbed with their own knives - albeit not reported as such. If reported at all. Those involved would also be happy to talk careers and work experience in emergency medicine.  

One of the priorities for the new Lambeth Neighbourhood Watch Association is to find ways of using NHW to Improve co-operation between parents, schools and police to make better use of shrinking resources to handle growing pressure, including to handle on-line safety and safeguarding whether on the way to/from school or in classroom/bedroom. 

We wish to draw on the expertise of those in education and youth services to review the current strategy (see attachment ) and help ensure it meets the needs of teachers, youth workers, schools and colleges as well as of pupils, parents and those outside the system (exclusion, home education, illness etc.). 

The national NHW Young people’s hub and Youth Council are largely concerned with Student Safety and run a magazine  The Lookout. Our first priority is to give a voice to the concerns of local teenagers when it comes to their street/estate, their journey to from schools or an evening out together locally). 

The current plans include workshops to explore the use of imabi Travel Guardian and Inspire to address this need. 

But should those workshops be organised via schools or external youth groups?  Either way we will need partners to host and deliver.

The NHW safeguarding processes will also require a safe-guarding officer on the leadership team, who is used to dealing with their peers in schools and youth groups, to ensure that the processes are followed.  The obvious candidate would be some-one from a school or youth group who would themselves benefit personally and professionally from the networking opportunities this will provide.     

Anther priority is the provision of cross cultural guidance for parents and community Groups on On-line Safety and Abuse. There appears to be much safeguarding guidance for schools and professionals, including from London Grid for Learning and the  Lambeth Safeguarding Children Partnership  but the guidance for parents and neighbours is not well known. The intention is to begin by publicising the NHW Child sexual exploitation campaign toolkit before looking for those interested in “translating it” for use across cultural boundaries. .

A major concern in Lambeth is the way children are recruited by organised crime via Child Financial Exploitation . We are looking for those interested in helping make relevant national guidance  Child financial exploitation: a guide for parents, carers and professionals | Catch22 available across local cultural boundaries. We will be seeking support and sponsorship from City of London financial services organisations to help this programme. Those targeted will, hopefully, link this to the provision of careers advice and work experience opportunities.

But are these the right priorities?

Should we, for example, be giving priority to school patrols to escort children to/from school by public transport (hence the exercise with Travel Guardian) or on foot, instead of travelling by car. 

Should we be seeking to help recruit industry professionals via NHW (including cyberhood watch )to help schools with cyber and physical security (using  Police CyberAlarm, handling Martyn’s law  etc.) careers guidance and/or work experience placements? 

Or is the effort of training educating such volunteers in how schools operate more trouble than they are worth?         

I would be most grateful for your views, whether or not you wish to get further involved.