At the Gateway Secondary Academy we are working in partnership with Essex Police to identify and provide appropriate support to pupils who have experienced domestic violence in their household, this scheme is called Operation Encompass.

The purposes of Operation Encompass is to safeguard and support children and young people who have been involved in or witness to a domestic abuse incident. Domestic abuse impacts on children in a number of ways. Children are at increased risk of physical injury during an incident, children are greatly distressed by witnessing the physical and emotional suffering of a parent.

Encompass has been created to highlight this situation. It is the implementation of key partnership working between the Police and Schools. The aim of sharing information with local schools is to allow "Key Adults" (normally the Designated Safeguarding Lead), the opportunity of engaging with the child and to provide access to support that allows them to remain in a safe but secure familiar environment.In order to achieve this, Essex Police will share information of domestic incidents where one of our pupils has been present, with the Key Adult. On receipt of any information the Key Adult will decide on the appropriate support the child requires. All information sharing and resulting actions will be undertaken in accordance with General Protection Regulations (GDPR). We will record information and store this in accordance with the record keeping procedures outlined in these regulations.

The purpose and procedures in Operation Encompass have been shared with all parents and governors. Further information can be found by clicking on the following link.

www.operationencompass.org  

A letter has been drawn up which covers all of the above.  Click here for copy