HEAD teachers in Nottingham are being taught how to deter children from becoming involved in violent extremism.

A conference taking place today will look at methods of identifying youngsters at risk of turning to extremist groups.

It will also teach teachers how to run workshops for pupils on what extremism means and its dangers.

Inspector Louise Jordan, of Notts Police, who has helped to organise the event, said extremist groups could appear in a variety of guises, including political groups and animal rights campaigners, as well as terrorist groups.

She added: "We want to work with young people to educate them and make them more resilient to being vulnerable.

"I think the schools' roles are very important because they are working on a daily basis with young people."

The conference in Bilborough is part of the Home Office-funded Prevent strategy, which aims to tackle violent extremism nationwide. Examples of the classroom workshops which would be run in the classrooms include one about a hypothetical situation where an extremist group makes a terrorist attack. Pupils then adopt the role of a police officer to find out what they would have to do in this situation.

Insp Jordan stressed the conference was not being run because there was a problem with extremists in the city.

She added: "It's about raising awareness and understanding.

"I hope schools will come away from this with greater awareness and understanding and that if they do have concerns within their schools they know who to see."

The Prevent team in Notts includes police, the city council, health service and probation and works with schools as well as community groups and the universities. The Contributing To The Prevention Of Violent Extremism conference will be held at the Belfry hotel.

claire.carter@nottinghameveningpost.co.uk