Operation Encompass

Dear Parent/Carer,

Our school setting is part of Operation Encompass which is a national scheme that operates jointly between schools and police forces.

Operation Encompass is the reporting to schools, prior to the start of the next school day, when a child or young person has experienced domestic abuse.

As a school setting, we have ensured that a member of our staff, (Designated Safeguarding Lead) known as a Key Adult, has been trained in the Operation Encompass procedures allowing us to then use the information that has been shared, in confidence, to support the child/ren in our care.

The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 identifies children who experience domestic abuse as victims of domestic abuse in their own right.

On 24 May 2024 Royal Assent was granted to The Victims and Prisoners Act. The Act placed Operation Encompass into Law.

This places a statutory obligation on police forces to share Operation Encompass notifications with schools/educational settings.

We are keen to offer the best support possible to all our pupils and through Operation Encompass we will be able to provide the best possible support to our children.

Signed

Head Teacher

Section 20 of the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 introduced a new provision into Part 3 of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 (‘the Act’) Section 49A of the Act, titled ‘Arrangements to notify schools’, places a statutory duty on all 43 territorial police forces across England and Wales to implement the Operation Encompass information-sharing scheme.

Under this duty, forces have a legal duty to notify a child’s educational establishment if they have reasonable grounds to believe that a child may be a victim of domestic abuse.

For further information see Operation Encompass Statutory Guidance

Operation Encompass is a national scheme that
operates jointly between schools and all police forces.

Children who live in homes where there is
domestic abuse, or who experience domestic
abuse in their own teenage relationships, can be
negatively impacted by this experience.

We have ensured that a member of our staff,
(Designated Safeguarding Lead) known as a Key Adult, has been trained about Operation
Encompass procedures. This allows us to use the
information that has been confidentially shared
with us by the police, to understand how a child
may be impacted by domestic abuse and to then offer support to the child/ren in our care.

This information means that we
can understand a childʼs behaviour
and support that child in whatever
way they may need or want.

Children who experience domestic
abuse are recognised as victims of
domestic abuse in their own right.

Operation Encompass means that our school will
be told, prior to the start of the next school day,
when police have attended an incident of domestic abuse where there is a child or young person who attends our school who is related to any of those involved in the incident.

We are keen to offer the very best support possible to all our pupils and we believe that being part of Operation Encompass helps us to do this.