To mark the 10-year anniversary of the 7/7 London bombings, the council hosted a major event highlighting the work going on to combat the 'significant threat' of radicalisation in schools.

In partnership with the Home Office, Waltham Forest council organised workshops with experts to provide information for attendees from schools across the country and organisations involved with the Government’s Prevent agenda.

Speakers at the 'Community Cohesion' event included Rosemary Pratt, of the counter extremism group at the Department for Education, and London's Deputy Mayor for policing and crime, Stephen Greenhalgh.

In May, the council was criticised for handing out a survey designed to identify extremist views in schoolchildren, some as young as ten, without their headteacher's knowledge.

The Building Resilience through Integration & Trust (BRIT) questionnaire asked over 250 pupils whether they thought God has a purpose for them, whether they believed British people respected their religion and if they would mind if a family of a different race or religion moved next door.

The Islamic Human Rights Commision said the questionnaire was Islamaphobic as it was geared towards Muslims, but the council denied the anonymous questionnaire was directed at pupils of any particular faith and has destroyed the results.

Cllr Liaquat Ali, cabinet member for community safety and cohesion, said: “Sadly, 10 years on from the devastating 7/7 London bombings, radicalisation and terrorism remain significant threats not just to the UK, but internationally – as last month’s horrific attacks in Tunisia, France and Kuwait painfully reminded us.

“Having been involved with the Prevent agenda since 2011, we’re keen to share the lessons we’ve learned through our efforts to tackle the issue within our area.

"We hope that today’s event gave everyone attending the opportunity to put forward their own ideas and approaches to ensure we’re having the right conversations with our respective communities.”

Cllr Mark Rusling, cabinet member for young people, said: “Instead of hiding away from difficult discussions we’ve been taking the conversations into our classrooms.

"We make sure the borough’s young people are safeguarded from harmful views by helping them better understand subjects like identity and citizenship and making them fully aware of radicalisation and its associated dangers."

At least one element of the council's digital resilience programme, designed to protect children from potentially harmful information or views presented on the internet, has been delivered in all 22 of Waltham Forest's secondary schools.