Schools

Due to the success of the visits to HMP Huntercombe, we now take prisoners who have graduated from the Stoic programme into schools to talk to larger groups of students. They are accompanied by a prison officer and our prison-liaison lead. The talks focus on their life experiences, often detailing the brutal consequences of drug dealing and knife crime, and the reality of life inside. These sessions are relaxed and informative, and the question and answer session is always a highlight.

This format has become extremely popular; there is a wider outreach and, from a practical point of view, there is no financial outlay for the school and minimal disruption to the timetable.

We have also had very positive feedback from prisoners for whom the opportunity to educate children about the justice system is clearly a positive experience in their journey back to freedom.

From the Teacher’s Perspective

“As a teacher, I am so grateful to yourself and the prison for the invaluable experiences provided for our pupils. Without exception, the pupils have found the visits educational; they have all said that they will think twice about committing a crime after visiting. This is down to you as a facilitator and Pete and Cadet for their open and honest approach to describing and demonstrating what prison life is like. I think this visit should be on the national curriculum!”
Oxfordshire PRU