Operation Encompass
All Leicester Schools are part of a safeguarding initiative, which aims to improve outcomes for children and families affected by domestic violence and abuse.
This scheme provides early reporting to schools of any domestic abuse incidents that might have an impact on a child that attends their school. The approach, known as Operation Encompass is run in partnership with Leicester City Council and Leicestershire Police.
All public agencies currently share information where there are safeguarding concerns or risk of harm to children and the Police currently share information on all incidents of domestic abuse in Leicester with Leicester City Council.
To further support the welfare of children this information sharing has been extended since 2018 to include schools. During the school term our Designated Safeguarding Leads are informed when any domestic abuse incident has been reported to the police and one of our pupils was in the household. It will not give any details about the incident.
This was introduced because domestic abuse in a household can have a big impact on children, even if they do not see what is happening.
The information is used to ensure that the school is able to provide appropriate support to our pupils. The information will remain confidential and only shared on a strictly need-to-know basis, for example with the class teacher. It will not be shared with any pupils.
If you would like to speak to someone in confidence about domestic abuse, call the Leicester, Leicestershire & Rutland Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0800 802 0028 or visit:
https://www.leicester.gov.uk/your-community/emergencies-safety-and-crime/domestic-and-sexual-abuse/
We aim to offer the best support possible for our pupils and believe that this scheme is beneficial and supportive for all those involved. It has proved to be a very effective way of supporting children at a most difficult time. The key adults in school are;
Helen King
Headteacher
DSL
Steve Powell
Deputy Headteacher
Lead DSL
Jacqui Hayes
Attendance Officer
DSL