POLICE officers visited a secondary school to raise awareness of important issues affecting the town.

Year 9 pupils at Slough and Eton College were delivered a presentation on work being carried out to raise awareness of child sexual exploitation (CSE).

Schools liaison officer, PC Louise Sloane, and neighbourhood officer PC Andy Moore spoke to pupils, giving them an overview of what CSE is and the signs to look out for to detect it.

Students were shown a short video clip, called Sick Party - a hard-hitting drama exploring the experiences of CSE including peer on peer grooming, party lifestyle grooming, drinks and drugs, consent, gifts and self-esteem.

PC Moore said: “The presentation forms part of our ongoing efforts to raise awareness of CSE amongst young people in schools.

“It is not only important for young people to know what CSE stands for, but to also be aware of its signs and the support mechanisms in place should they, or someone they know, become a victim of such a crime.

“CSE is a terrible crime with destructive and far reaching consequences for victims, their families, and society. It affects boys and young men as well as girls and young women. The abuser could be male or female.

“CSE is child abuse and we must do everything we can to prevent it. However, we can’t stamp out CSE without the help of the wider community, so raising awareness of this type of abuse is essential to preventing it and stopping it early when it does happen.”

Sexual exploitation of children and young people under 18 involves exploitative situations, contexts and relationships where young people receive something, such as food, accommodation or alcohol, as a result of them performing sexual activities.

In all cases, those exploiting the young person have power over them by virtue of their age, gender, intellect, physical strength and/or economic or other resources.

PC Sloane said: “Working with our local schools to help raise awareness of CSE is very important and it is something we have actively been doing for the past few years now.

“I would like to thank Slough and Eton School for providing us with this latest opportunity and to the Year 9 girls who took part in the session which I hope was very useful.”