Child exploitation is a form of abuse where a child is taken advantage of by a group or individual, who uses an imbalance of power to coerce, manipulate or deceive.  There are several different types of exploitation, such as:

• Sexual Exploitation
• Criminal Exploitation
• Modern Slavery (including human trafficking)
• Financial Exploitation
• Any other Exploitation that enables services or benefits of any kind, including: forced marriage
• Illegal adoption

The victim may still be exploited even if the activities that they are engaging in appear consensual.

Multiple types of exploitation can occur alongside or as part of other forms of abuse.

At The Priory School we consider Child Exploitation to be a real and present risk.  As such, we provide students and with education around different areas of exploitation, most specifically Child Sexual Exploitation and Child Criminal Exploitation (including County Lines), as well as working closely with Shropshire Safeguarding Partnership and the Police to ensure young people are provided with appropriate advice and support as required.

We have delivered a series of awareness events for parents/carers across the town of Shrewsbury and will continue to work with parents/carers in ensuring our young people are not exploited.  Importantly, we always encourage young people to have a trusted adult who they can talk to no matter what has happened, and to reinforce the message that children who are exploited are victims.

We regularly discuss these matters with students in Life lessons, assemblies, tutorial and by inviting external visitors (such as the police) in to talk to students.

Below are a number of useful links for parents/carers.  If you have any concerns at all about a child, please report them or contact our Student Support Team to discuss your concerns.

https://www.nspcc.org.uk/what-is-child-abuse/types-of-abuse/child-sexual-exploitation/

https://paceuk.info/for-parents/

https://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/what-we-do/our-work/tackling-criminal-exploitation-and-county-lines/county-lines-resources

https://www.nwgnetwork.org/for-parents/

https://www.barnardos.org.uk/what-we-do/protecting-children/cse

http://knowaboutcse.co.uk/parents/

https://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/what-is-county-lines

https://www.safe4me.co.uk/portfolio/child-criminal-exploitation-county-lines/