Anti-terror advice available to schools

POTENTIALLY LIFE-SAVING advice showing children what to do if they are caught up in a terror attack is being made available to be taught in schools across the UK for the first time.

Young people aged between 11 and 16 will be urged to run to safety, hide and tell police should they become involved in a gun or knife attack, in guidance that is said to go “way beyond the basic messaging” of previous campaigns.

An animated film, partly in the style of a comic strip, urges youths not to “waste time” taking pictures or videos of the scene, but instead to run away from danger.

The film, entitled Run, Hide, Tell – The Story Of Nur, Edih and Llet, and specially-designed lesson plans, will be made available to schools and youth organisations from today.

The safety campaign also advises young people on what to do should they see something suspicious, and an extra lesson teaching basic first aid is being made available.

The lessons are not compulsory, but staff in schools are being urged to use them to ensure the younger generation is prepared in the “unlikely event” of a terror attack, according to Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Lucy D’Orsi.

Ms D’Orsi added: “We appreciate this can be a difficult subject to speak to young people about, but we’ve carefully designed everything to be age-appropriate and we know from our research that this is information that young people want to be equipped with.”

The video and teaching materials, which have been designed by counter-terror police and the PSHE Association, are available to download via the National Police Chiefs’ Council official website.