Castle Manor Academy

Students hear from former drug addict as part of Keep Safe week

Published: 8 March, 2024

Students from Castle Manor Academy were given a hard-hitting anti-crime talk as part of an annual Keep Safe week.

Paul Hannaford visited the school to talk powerfully about his life as a former drug addict. 

Vanessa Whitcombe, headteacher at Castle Manor Academy, said: “We were pleased to invite Paul Hannaford into the school to speak to students about his life.

“The Keep Safe week held last year was a huge success and given the importance of the topic, we decided to make this an annual event.

“At Castle Manor, we focused on understanding consent in different situations and looking at personal safety with resources and activities chosen to support age-appropriate learning.”

The visit was part of Unity Schools Partnership’s Keep Safe week which saw all schools in the trust encouraged to take part in events, online sessions and classroom activities around the theme ‘No, Means No’.

The week started with a meeting of the trust’s School Council, with two members from each school invited to join and work together with peers at Thomas Gainsborough School in Great Cornard.