Prison! Me! No Way!

Being locked up in a prison cell. Seeing how easily a street argument can get out of control and being ‘arrested’ - are all on the curriculum for almost 750 pupils at 5 local upper schools, as RBH commissions a series of workshops designed to warn them about the  serious impact anti social behaviour could have on their future.

“These are not shock tactics,” said Sue Kershaw, RBH's Communities First Co-ordinator.  “The ‘real life scenarios’ are presented by experts to secondary school pupils in a matter of fact way that spells out quite clearly what life is like in prison and the consequences of criminal or anti social behaviour. The workshops also focus on  influences on behaviour and how young people can be in control and make positive choices.”

RBH has commissioned the workshops as parts of ourCommunities First initiative which helps to recognise, promote and reward good behaviour.  The events are being delivered to five local schools in partnership with the No Way Trust and agencies from the Rochdale Safer Communities Partnership.

Sue explains further, “We offer each school a bespoke event so that they could choose workshops that relate to local issues and problems. So, in addition to the prison life workshops, the pupils learn about choices and consequences from a range of partner agencies and organisations from the Rochdale Safer Communities partnership such as the RBH, Police, Fire & Rescue Services, Healthy Schools, Community Safety, Magistrates etc”.

The No Way Trust shows the youngsters the process a young person has to go through when they arrive as a new prisoner and they experience the loss of freedom, dignity and privacy for themselves when they are ‘locked’ up in a mobile prison cell.

Paul Wilkinson, Chief Executive of the No Way Trust is a part-time serving prison officer and is a founder member of the charity which was set up 16 years ago. He said, “I wanted to help youngsters see the impact of their actions. During the sessions, we look at all aspects of the law – how it is there to keep you safe, as well as to be obeyed. We encourage pupils to become more responsible citizens and promote personal safety – it’s basically learning for life. Home Office research shows that four fifths of people who have been through our programmes are less likely to end up in prison, so it does work.”

Principal, Eric Jackson of St. Anne’s Academy in Hollin, was delighted his school was the first to showcase the project on 14th October. He said, “It was great to see such a range of organisations involved. The work today reinforces key messages we give out at school to pupils - that their actions can change the course of their lives and have a huge impact on themselves, their families and their community.” Two pupils from St. Anne’s Academy, Kerry Ann Sanderson and Caylum Henry gained a lot from the experience. Kerry Ann, who acted the role of the police officer in one of the street scenes said, “It was quite frightening watching the people fighting – it made me realise what it is like from the police point of view”. Caylum was impressed to discover the Police had come along, saying “I learned a lot more about what they did and it’s something I might consider as a future job.”

Assistant Headteacher, Christine MacInnes of Oulder Hill Community High School whose event was on 15th October said, “We were undergoing an Ofsted inspection that day and it was a real boost to our timetable, as we are always keen to work in partnership with local organisations. We have a diversity of students here and the day was tailored specifically for us, perfectly supplementing our citizenship work. The organisers have all been brilliant – within ten minutes our Year 9 Pupils were captivated by what they saw and heard.”  Pupil, Hareem, who acted as one of the Police Officers in a street scene thought the experience was great. She said, “It made me see it from a Police point of view. Being in prison was really bad, I felt so enclosed and I definitely don’t want to repeat the experience.” Fellow student, Luke added, “I’ve learned a lot today, the prison cell was a real eye-opener and if I see people fighting in the street now, I know what to do.”

Heywood Community School and Springhill High School are holding their events in November and Hollingworth Business and Enterprise College are holding their event in July 2010 as part of their enrichment week.

RBH has also funded a ‘Wise-up!’ teaching package in each school.  This is produced by the Community Safety Education Foundation.  These pupil books and teaching resources can be used throughout the remainder of the year to build on the learning from the one off events.

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