Hate crime and hate incidents

Non-crime hate incidents in schools

In June 2023, the Home Office introduced a new ruling, that any non-crime incidents involving school-aged children, where the incident occurs on school premises, should be referred to the school’s management team to assess the risk and decide on a proportionate response.

Hertfordshire Constabulary have therefore produced a new referral process and guidance, for primary and secondary schools in Hertfordshire. This will enable a clearer understanding of emerging themes and causes of concerns in different areas, where support may be required. The form will only be used by the Police. The desired outcome is for school employees and pupils, to have an improved knowledge of hate crime, how to address it and where to signpost if necessary. The main objective is prevention and education.

At the end of each term, schools will be asked to complete a short form which is sent to them, regarding how many non-crime incidents have occurred on site and if there were any particular themes.

Hertfordshire Constabulary have also provided the following documentation to help with awareness and education within school:

• a PowerPoint presentation explaining hate crime and non-hate crime incidents.
• a teaching resource pack for primary and secondary pupils (see Hate Crime Teaching Resource below).
• poster to be displayed in staff rooms. The QR code provides a short training video.
• accompanying notes explaining the background of Hate crime incidents.

Hate crime teaching resource

HFL Education is pleased to share this fully funded teaching resource on Hate Crime. There are three short units of lessons suitable for pupils in Year 5 to Year 10. The resources have been produced on behalf of Hertfordshire County Community Safety Unit (CCSU) who wish to support Hertfordshire schools in this area.

This is an ideal resource to be delivered in PSHE/RSHE lessons.

The resource addresses the following topics:

• identity
• inclusion and exclusion
• belonging
• acceptance of difference
• supporting and valuing others
• hate crime
• hate incidents
• the law and hate crime
• reporting hate crime
• understanding and empathy

KS2 Unit includes activities and resources on:

• Something Else by Kathryn Cave and Chris Riddell
• YouTube’s Jake’s Story
• Bing video’s ‘The Invisible Boy’ by Trudy Ludwig

KS3 and 4 Units includes activities and resources on:

• The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander
• Stephen Lawrence Day
• Jack Petchey Speak Out Challenge’s A Manifesto on the Future of Education by Zayne Adeshokan
• Johnny Delaney’s story

The resource is fully funded for schools in Hertfordshire.

We welcome feedback on this resource and if you’d like to share some with us please email wellbeing@hfleducaton.org