Operation Encompass is a partnership between police and schools, and it is now in place in all 43 police forces in England and Wales.

Operation Encompass is a police and education early information-sharing partnership enabling schools to offer immediate support for children and young people experiencing domestic abuse.

Operation Encompass ensures there is a simple phone call or notification, to a trained member of school staff, before a child arrives in school. The call or notification is triggered by police recently attending the child's home or being involved in a domestic abuse incident, that the child has experienced.

Operation Encompass is very simple and easy to implement within a school.

Every school appoints a trained key adult, who is the person who receives information about police attended domestic abuse incidents. The key adult will be notified prior to the start of the next school day that the police have attended an incident of domestic abuse. This timely information sharing enables appropriate support to be provided for that child so that all interactions, from when the child first arrives at the school gates, are of a positive nature.

The Operation Encompass website provides free training for key adults that:

• creates an awareness of Operation Encompass throughout a school
• informs the participant about key facts concerning domestic abuse
• explains how Operation Encompass mitigates the effects of domestic abuse on children and explains its broader consequent benefits.
• explains to school staff how to communicate the school's Operation Encompass participation to the broader school community and stakeholders.

You can also find resources to support schools, including a number of handbooks covering topics such as:

• Guide to implementing Operation Encompass – exploring how Operation Encompass works between a police force and schools.
• Supporting children experiencing domestic abuse – highlighting a number of simple ways in which school staff can support children experiencing domestic abuse.
• Recognising children experiencing domestic abuse as vulnerable groups within schools – supported by the Home Office, the DfE and NASEN, this handbook explains why we should recognise children experiencing domestic abuse as a vulnerable group in schools.
• Working to break the cycle of Domestic Abuse – exploring how schools can teach the domestic abuse aspect of the RE/RSE/HE curriculum. Operation Encompass have also provided a review of helpful books for use in the curriculum.

Operation Encompass has produced a template statement that schools can add to their safeguarding policy to highlight their participation in Operation Encompass.

Recently, Operation Encompass has published a new handbook in response to the recent recognition of children being recognised as victims of domestic violence in their own right. In this booklet, they set out the Child's Victim Support Code, which you can read more about here.

If you have received an Operation Encompass call about a child in your school, or are concerned about a child or children in your school who are experiencing domestic abuse, Operation Encompass provides a helpline for school staff.

For free advice from an education psychologist about how best to support a child, call the Operation Encompass teachers' national helpline on 0204 513 9990, Monday to Friday 8am-1pm.