Operation Encompass
Our School is part of a project which is being run between St Helen's Local Authority, Schools and Merseyside Police. The project is called Operation Encompass, it has been designed to provide early reporting of any domestic violence incidents that occur outside of school, which may have an impact on a child in school. This is done through a notification sent to school following an incident.
The project ensures that at least one member of the school staff, known as the 'Key Adult' is trained to liaise with the police and to use the information that has been shared, in confidence. In this way, we aim to support each child who has been involved in, or witnessed, a domestic abuse incident.
The 'Key Adult' at Holy Spirit is Miss Sinead Walsh, headteacher and Designated safeguarding lead.
If she receives an Encompass call, she will make sure that a person the child trusts is available to help - if the child needs this. Most of the time this support is silent; keeping a careful eye on him or her and making sure they have a calm and happy school day. The confidential information is ordinarily not shared with all staff, just an agreement on how to help, if needed.
All schools have a duty to share any information with other organisations if they feel a child is at risk of being hurt. The Key Adult may contact other organisations. This is described in our child protection policy. Our Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leads; Mrs Nichola Lamble (Deputy Headteacher) and Mrs Sharon Winders (Pastoral Manager) have also received training in Operation Encompass and may also deal with any notifications we receive and supporting the care of our children accordingly.
The sharing of information from the Police allows the school to be ready to help your child straight away, and it means that parents are aware that the Key Adult knows that something has happened. Parents can also come and talk to our Key Adult. The Key Adult can point you towards other people that can help.
Our aim is to support our children and their families, click on the link below to find more help.