On Wednesday 7th February, we were joined by three outstanding guest speakers who came to speak to the college community about their experiences related to violence and extremism.
Travis Frain OBE, Steven Stanier and Nicola Benyahia MBE delivered powerful presentations about the importance of diversity, tolerance, good citizenship, and being willing to engage in discussion with openness and curiosity, even where the content or circumstances may be challenging.
Our Prevent Young Leaders, Hafwen, Divine, Mario and Japjit, showed great student leadership by introducing each guest speaker and taking part in the focus groups, asking thought-provoking questions to delve deeper into the topics.
Hafwen said “the experience was truly insightful and really highlighted the impact extremism can have on everyone. Learning what the speakers and I have in common was deeply informative as it highlighted how ‘normal’ a person can be and still be affected by extremism.”
Mario said “it was a very important moment to remember that extremism has no place in our world and our society. British values and common good morals are brilliant examples of how to learn to respect one another, and treat one another with dignity and humanity.”
It was fantastic to see the event being attended and supported in person by the Chair of Governors, Philip Parkinson, and our Link Governor for Safeguarding, Sofie Dadge, as well as Ben Smith from the St. Phillips Centre.
Donna Trusler, Associate Principal, commented that “it is vital that we discuss such hugely important topics. Our students were fully engaged with our fantastic guest speakers and we will take what we learned from the event into the future.”
