Community

Safer Schools Partnership

We are very proud to be a part of the Safer Schools Partnership (SSP) with Suffolk Constabulary. An SSP is a formal agreement between our partnership of Felixstowe schools and the police to work together in order to keep young people safe, reduce crime and the fear of crime and improve behaviour in schools and their communities.

The SSP scheme involves a police community support officer (PCSO) working in our schools. Our PCSO is Lorraine Spall.

Aims of our SSP:

All SSPs aim to ensure:

• the safety of students, staff, the school site and surrounding area;
• help for young people to deal with situations that may put them at risk of becoming victims of crime, bullying or intimidation, and to provide support to those who do;
• focused enforcement to demonstrate that those who do offend cannot do so without facing consequences;
• early identification, support and where necessary challenge of students involved in or at risk of offending;
• improved standards of student behaviour and attendance, and less need for exclusions;
• more positive relations between young people and the police and between young people and the wider community; and
• effective approaches to issues beyond the school site that negatively impact on student safety and behaviour.

There are some key benefits of being involved in this programme: 

Students will

• feel safer, knowing that a police officer is on hand to help resolve conflicts and respond to harmful behaviour;
• learn more effectively as they grow more confident that they can attend school in safety;
• find out how to avoid being drawn into crime and anti-social or extremist behaviour and learn more about what the police do in the community;
• receive support if they have been victims of crime and learn new skills to avoid being victims and be safer on journeys to and from school; and
• benefit from a positive role model through contact with the SSP officer.

Schools will

• see improved student behaviour and attendance, and potentially fewer exclusions and
• better academic achievement;
• be helped to identify, challenge and support students most at risk of causing harm and offending through benefiting from the professional expertise a police officer can bring;
• receive support to identify and help students most susceptible to the messages of violent extremism and/or gang culture, if these are particular issues in the area;
• benefit from the specialist support the police can offer in dealing with screening students for weapons; searching students for certain items;
• dealing with intruders to the school, including any violent or abusive adults; and dealing with incidents where physical force is needed to control or restrain a student;
• experience a calmer school environment which is more conducive to learning and achieving and where all members of the school community will feel safer;
• integrate better within multi-agency teams, helping to support more effective interventions with students and families; and
• build better relations with the local community.

The police will

• see reductions in youth crime and anti-social behaviour, through identifying and dealing with issues at an early stage in school;
• see improved public confidence in local policing as a result of the relationships built through SSPs;
• achieve improved efficiency and better use of police time in terms of prevention and early intervention;
• be able to better support and monitor prolific and other priority young offenders through working with schools and multi-agency teams;
• be able to identify and support children and young people who feel threatened by crime and anti-social behaviour;
• have the opportunity to talk to young people about local crime issues – including if there are problems around gang culture or group offending, weapon carrying or risks from violent extremism; and
• build better relationships with young people and their parents, which will have significant benefits in the wider community.

Parents / carers will

• be more confident about their children’s safety in an SSP school and on journeys to and from school;
• be reassured that any particular tensions in the local community such as racism, gang culture or weapons issues will not be allowed to intrude on the school;
• if their child is at risk of involvement in anti-social behaviour or crime, know that the police presence in school will help deal with this in an appropriate way;
• be reassured that teachers have the support of police in ensuring good student behaviour and attendance, and in tackling bullying; and
• know that their child is being encouraged to trust the police and to take a responsible attitude towards issues around crime.

Local authorities and other partners will

• benefit from the impact that SSPs can have on helping them reach a number of local and national targets, including measures on public perceptions of safety;
• benefit from effective exchange of information. Schools and children’s services working more closely with the police leads to more effective safeguarding arrangements; and
• receive support for effective multi-agency working, including early intervention and prevention strategies with students and families and (as appropriate) local Prevent and Deter arrangements.

An SSP is a positive way for all schools to demonstrate their commitment to promoting a safe climate of learning and to preventing crime. One of the key aims of the SSP programme is to build more positive relationships between young people and police. Giving young people a chance to meet police officers in school, away from some of the influences of the street, can help to foster these relationships. This can then have benefits for the police when encountering them in the wider local community.