Police and Schools forge new partnership to keep kids safe

Pol-Ed supports schools in delivering expertly planned lessons designed to develop a deep awareness of risks, citizenship, and the law. Materials will address priority areas of policing and cover a wide range of issues such as sexual violence and harassment; child on child abuse; crime prevention, personnel safety and the perception young people may have of the police. 

Pol-Ed will focus on prevention whilst also providing education, protection and safeguarding to all children across Lancashire. Pol-Ed will allow the Police and schools to work together and respond to local incidents or national crime trends, delivering specific inputs to any age group to educate and prevent harm. 

Thanks to funding from Lancashire Police and Crime Commissioner Clive Grunshaw Pol-Ed will be made available to every school in Lancashire. Inputs will be split into age groups from early years (age 2) to key stage 5 (age 18), themed across relationships, keeping safe and understanding the law. 

The programme has been purchased on behalf of schools to provide a universal offer all children in Lancashire will benefit from. The Constabulary have been in contact with schools to facilitate the registration process and will provide additional support with lessons delivered by officers when required.

More than 13 per cent of schools in the county have already registered, and 56 inputs were delivered to 1680 schoolchildren by teachers within the first week of launch.

Police and Crime Commissioner, Clive Grunshaw said:

“I’ve funded this project to support the education of our young people on challenging and sensitive topics such child sexual exploitation, anti-social behaviour, and child criminal exploitation, alongside emerging issues, risks, and consequences of crime.

“Pol-Ed represents a significant step forward in our efforts to engage with young people and educate them about the law and their safety. By providing teachers with the tools they need, we hope to foster a generation that is well-informed and confident in making safe choices.

“As the public’s voice in policing, I hope the scheme will further embed local officers in the communities they serve, leading to greater engagement, and increased trust in the police.”

Commenting on the scheme, Lancashire Assistant Chief Constable Karen Edwards said:

“It is important that we educate our children around some of the dangers and risks they could face growing up and this includes exploitation, bullying, sexting and anti-social behaviour. We want to do all that we can to prevent Lancashire’s children from becoming victims of crime or coming to harm. It is really important that our offer will be consistent and for every child in Lancashire no matter where they are educated or where they live. We will ensure that we consider crime trends and issues at each location to ensure we tailor this program to the needs of each specific school and location”.