St Aldhelm’s students learnt about child sexual exploitation, knife crime and lethal highs when they attended the Dorset Police and Crime Commissioner’s Youth Conference.
Year 11 students from the academy were among more than 140 secondary school students to attend the conference at Kingston Maurward College in Dorchester.
They participated in a variety of workshops relating to real life crime scenarios that affect young people in Dorset. These highlighted the dangers associated with legal and lethal highs, knife and gun crime and online crime.
They also watched the Alter Ego Theatre’s production of Chelsea’s Choice, a highly emotive drama which tells the story of a young girl experiencing grooming and sexual exploitation.
The conference was opened by Police and Crime Commissioner Martyn Underhill and Deputy Chief Constable James Vaughan and the keynote speaker was Kamal Hyman, the 2015 National Entrepreneur of the Year, who urged students to “Aim a Little Higher.”
Mr Gregory, head of Year 11, said: “The day clearly made a big impact on the students as they could not stop talking about what they had heard or watched all the way back to the school on the minibus.
“Overall it was a fantastic day which was very thought-provoking for all of the students and the teachers.”
Martyn Underhill, Dorset Police and Crime Commissioner, said: “The second annual PCC Youth Conference was a great success and feedback from the young people who attended was really positive.
“As Police and Crime Commissioner it is my job to reach out to all areas of the community and engage on policing, crime and community safety issues. This event forms part of our comprehensive programme of work with young people and we will be looking to refresh our Youth Police and Crime Plan early next year.”
