Operation Encompass Safeguarding Statement
Holy Angels Pre-school is part of Operation Encompass.
Operation Encompass is a national police and education early intervention safeguarding partnership which supports children who experience Domestic Abuse. It is in place in every police force in England and Wales, the Isle of Man, Jersey, Guernsey, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Gibraltar.
Children were recognised as victims of domestic abuse in their own right in the 2021 Domestic Abuse Act.
Operation Encompass means that the local police force will notify the Early Years and Childcare Service about all police attended Domestic incidents where children under the age of 5 are known to be, whether they are present at the time or not. Police notifications are sent to the EYCS throughout the day, so as a setting we may receive a phone call at any point during operating hours.
If the child is known to attend Holy Angels Pre-school, the Early Years and Childcare Adviser will contact our DSL/DDSL and inform them there has been a police attended incident. This notification informs us about the general context of the incident and includes the Voice of the Child.
We are aware that as a result of this notification, we must do nothing that puts the child/ren or the non-abusing adult at risk. Our role is to provide support to the child/ren if needed, and to the family if they choose to voluntarily share information about the incident with us. If, as a result of the phone call, we have concerns regarding the safety or welfare of the child/ren, we will follow our procedures for escalating and reporting concerns to Front Door/MASH, and the child’s allocated social worker if they have one.
The Operation Encompass notification is recorded in line with all other confidential safeguarding and child protection information.
Free training on Operation Encompass is available at https://www.operationencompass.org/operation-encompass-on-line-key-adult-briefing which our DSL and DDSL has undertaken. All staff are encouraged to undertake the online training.
Our DSL undertook training on 27/01/2025
Our DDSLs undertook training on 27/01/2025
Our Trustee for Safeguarding, Annika Palmer, undertook training on 27/01/2025
7 staff completed the training in January 2025
When the DSL/DDSL leaves Holy Angels Pre-school and other staff are appointed, we will ensure that all the new member of staff will undertake the Operation Encompass online training.
The DSL/DDSL has ensured all staff have undertaken training on the prevalence of Domestic Abuse and the impact of this abuse on children. We have also discussed how we can support our children who are experiencing Domestic Abuse on a day-to-day basis and particularly following the Operation Encompass notification.
Our parents are fully aware that we are an Operation Encompass setting and we ensure that when a new child joins our setting the parents/carers are informed about Operation Encompass.