Safeguarding support for teachers and education professionals

The Safeguarding team supports teachers and education professionals to fulfil their responsibility to safeguard and promote welfare effectively.

About the service

Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is everyone’s responsibility.

The Safeguarding team supports teachers and education professionals to fulfil their responsibility to safeguard and promote welfare effectively.

Our aim is to ensure schools and settings receive accurate information and guidance in accordance with national and local safeguarding regulations.

We provide appropriate safeguarding and child protection training which is regularly updated and support to ensure staff have the relevant skills and knowledge to safeguard children effectively.

How we support schools

To support Worcestershire schools to fulfil their statutory responsibilities, the Safeguarding team provide the following universal service:

individual case discussions – advice and guidance example Domestic Abuse/Child on Child Abuse Sexual Harassment
support regarding Level 2 needs - support and completing an Early Help Assessment
section 175/157 quality assurance evaluation for governor and the WSCP partnership
fortnightly newsletter
advise on national and local safeguarding guidance.
annual summary of KCSIE changes
DSL termly networks meetings
Daily Operation Encompass notifications

In addition to the universal service, the Safeguarding team offer a safeguarding subscription service.

Safeguarding subscription

The Safeguarding Subscription has been designed to ensure schools and colleges have an effective, relevant, and compliant safeguarding culture.

To achieve this schools and colleges need to have the required level of training alongside appropriate approaches to quality assure safeguarding practices and procedures.

Included within the subscription we offer subsidised training for all those involved in keeping children safe in education.

All training and services offered adhere to ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ (September 2024) guidance and meet the expectations of Worcestershire Safeguarding Children Partnership.

We offer opportunities throughout the year for training on issues relevant to schools and academies in the local area for a small additional cost.

If you identify a training need for your school or college, please do not hesitate to contact the training team: workforcesupport@worcestershire.gov.uk

Universal training for ALL school DSL or DDSL’s:

DSL network meeting

Core Training Included within Safeguarding Subscription:

introduction to role of Designated Safeguarding Lead 6-hour session specific training for NEW DSLs/DDSL’s
Designated Safeguarding Lead training 6-hour specific training for DSLs and DDSLs
Managing Allegations against staff or volunteers

Additional training is available to book at a subsidised rate for Safeguarding subscribers:

Safer Recruitment in Educational Settings
Safeguarding Children in Education - Governors’ Roles and Responsibilities
Understanding the Single Central Record

Operation Encompass

Operation Encompass registration pack

Schools in Worcestershire have been receiving Operation Encompass notifications for the last 5 years. However, when Operation Encompass was launched 5 years ago there was no official training to complete.

From September 2023 there will be an opportunity for DSLs and DDSLs complete the Operation Encompass Key Adult training and sign the updated Safeguarding agreement.

This pack provides all the details you need to complete the new registration, including how to access the training and additional resources.

To complete the registration for your setting, you will need to:

1. Complete the Key Adult training

Ensure Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSLs) and Deputies (DDSLs) have completed the Key Adult training online on the Operation Encompass website.

If you have already completed the training and have sent in your certificates then you do not need to re-send them. You would still need to complete the safeguarding agreement.

2. Complete the Safeguarding Agreement to sign up

Download: The safeguarding agreement (Word)

To continue to receive Operation Encompass notifications, please send the completed Safeguarding Agreement and the Key Adult Certificates to:

opencompassSCH@worcestersghire.gov.uk - for schools
opencompassEYS@worcestershire.gov.uk - for early years settings

If your school has an Early Years setting on site that has a different registration number

If they have not yet registered, the Early Years setting would need to register separately. They can do this by contacting: opencompassEYS@worcestershire.gov.uk

Definition of Domestic Abuse

The government definition of domestic abuse is:

“Any incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive or threatening behavior, violence or abuse between those aged 16 or over, who have been intimate partners or family members, regardless of gender or sexuality.”

What children may experience

The Numbers

on average, there are 35 incidents of Domestic Abuse before a call is made to the police
over 16,554 notifications have been communicated to Schools in Worcestershire since Operation Encompass was launched in the County
15% of Police recorded crime is related to Domestic Abuse
West Mercia Domestic Abuse data (for the year ending March 2021):
- 32,310 Domestic Abuse related incidents and crimes were recorded
- this is equivalent to 25 crimes/incidents for every 1000 people in the population
- 23% of all recorded crimes were classified as Domestic Abuse related
• West Mercia Domestic Abuse data (April to October 2022):
- South Worcestershire: 2469 crimes and 1136 incidents recorded
- North Worcestershire: 2447 crimes and 1222 incidents recorded

Soure: Operation Encompass notifications sent to WCF between May to October 2022:

Why is domestic abuse a safeguarding issue?

Operation Encompass gives professionals an insight into what a child is going through at home.

The videos below will provide may help to provide a better understanding on how to support and children and families:

the impact of domestic violence and abuse on mothering and children (Violence Against Women and Girls)
what can we do to support children and families who have been impacted by domestic abuse? (NSPCC)
why is domestic abuse a safeguarding and child protection Issue? (NSPCC)

Training

A short, online training pack is available for all DSLs to complete. ALL DSLs/DDSLs will need to complete the training to become the ‘Key Adult’ for Operation Encompass. You will need to register (for free) to access the training: Online Key Adult Training : Operation Encompass and complete each of the online modules.

How Operation Encompass works in Worcestershire?

When police are called to a domestic abuse incident, where anyone under the age of 18 is either present at the scene, or usually lives, or there is a pregnant individual (over 28 weeks gestation), details of the incident are logged by the Police and shared with the Worcestershire Operation Encompass team within the Council.

Once this incident log has been received by the Council, information from the log is sent to the appropriate school(s) and since February 2023, this now includes any funded Early Years providers who have registered to receive Operation Encompass notifications. Details of the incident, including the date, time, police incident number and a description of what happened will be shared

If we receive a notification for children not attending an education setting, the Children Missing Education (CME) will be notified.

If a child attends more than one setting, we will share information with both registered settings.

If a notification is received for a child that attends an early year’s provision that does not offer funded places or a for a child that does not attend an Early Years childcare setting, the police will send the notification directly to the NHS Health Team who will share this information with Health Visitors and Midwives.

The Process

The process differs slightly for Worcestershire, as the Council completes Operation Encompass on behalf of the Police.

1. The Police send the incident log to the Education Safeguarding team every morning.

2. Gem Rainsford-Grady, Safeguarding Business Support Officer, will link each child to their setting and send out notifications detailing the incident. The notification will be sent via the Children’s Services Portal (CSP). For Education, it will be sent to the Headteacher and the Safeguarding contact. For Early Years settings, this means that the NEF Contact will receive the CSP email informing them that a notification has been sent.

3. The notification will be an Excel attachment, with details of a child present at the incident or who usually resides at the address where a domestic abuse incident or crime has been reported.

a. One Excel sheet will be sent per incident. You may receive more than one Excel file if separate incidents have been reported, concerning other children at your setting

b. Details of the incident should then be logged on a ‘Call Log’ document and this should be filed in the same way Child Protection records are kept.

4. The DSL will share relevant information provided with appropriate staff where needed.

Operation Encompass best practice

Do's:

be vigilant about behaviour changes in the child and support the child's needs, whatever that may be at that time
ask how the child feeling today, and provide support based on the outcome
ask the Parent/Carer how they are today? Let them know you have time for them
communicate with other staff members on a need-to-know basis and be aware a sibling may be in attendance so communicate to others who are caring for the sibling. Log any behaviour changes
ensure the child understands they have someone to talk to about how they feel and that they are in a safe space
make referrals if you think a child is at risk

Dont's:

don’t approach a parent or child directly about the information you have received. Only provide support should a parent/Carer ask for support - If a parent/Carer seeks support – be mindful of your surroundings when having conversations, as this may put a victim of domestic abuse in more danger
don’t assume conversations on doorsteps are private, technology such as Alexa, Ring Doorbells have recording functions
information received from Operation Encompass is highly confidential. Do not share with anyone in your setting that doesn’t need to know

Additional resources

New resources from Operation Compass for schools during 2023:

letter template to notify parents that you are signed up to Operation Encompass
further printable resources (in various languages)
poster for schools

Resources for schools including posters

Operation Encompass

Operation Ecompass impact report 2023 (PDF)

Useful Links

As an Operation Encompass setting, parents or carers may talk to you about their situation, possibly looking for help and support. The following services may be useful:

West Mercia Women’s Aid
Hollie Guard - free personal safety app
Clare's Law - the right to ask and the right to know (What is Clare's Law)
Sarah's Law - a law for anyone who wants to find out if a person who has contact with a child, has a record of child sexual offences
Helpline for Male victims of Domestic Abuse (Men’s Advice Line)
Financial and economic abuse (Women’s Aid)
Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence (Worcestershire County Council)
Dawn Project (Worcester Community Trust)
West Mercia Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre
What is domestic abuse? (Women’s Aid)
How to Protect Children from Domestic Abuse (NSPCC)

Key Contacts

Main Contact

Gem Rainsford-Grady, Operation Encompass Coordinator

Email: GGrady@worcestershire.gov.uk

Telephone: 01905 728530

Operation Encompass Schools: OpencompassSCH@worcestershire.gov.uk

Operation Encompass Early Years: OpencompassEYS@worcestershire.gov.uk

Safeguarding Team

Denise Hannibal, Education Safeguarding Lead

Email: dhannibal@worcestershire.gov.uk

Telephone: 01905 844436

Hayley Doyle, Educational Area Safeguarding Officer

Email: HDoyle@worcestershire.gov.uk

Telephone: 01905 845230

West Mercia Police

DI Dave Bettison, Strategic Vulnerability Team

Email: david.bettison@westmercia.police.uk

Telephone: 07843 496378 or 07870 51231

Single central record health check

Schools and colleges must maintain a single central record of pre-appointment checks. Keeping Children Safe in Education (September 2024)

Your single central record is a key part of evidence that inspectors will look at when inspecting your school safeguarding.

Make sure your recording is compliant with statutory guidance with a School Central Record Health Check.

What should be included in the Single Central Record?

The Department for Education (DfE) published statutory guidance Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSiE) outlines the recruitment and selection processes, recruitment and vetting checks, duties of safeguarding and promoting welfare of children in education. KCSiE states the single record check must cover the following people:

all staff including teacher trainees on salaried routes, agency and third party supply staff who work at the school. In colleges this means those providing education to children and
for independent schools, all members of the proprietor body. In the case of academies and free schools, this means the members and trustees of the academy trust

The minimum information that must be recorded in respect of staff members (including teacher trainees on salaried routes) is whether the following checks have been carried out or certificates obtained, and the date on which each check was completed/certificate obtained:

an identity check
a barred list check
an enhanced DBS check/certificate
a prohibition from teaching check
further checks on people who have lived or worked outside the UK
a check of professional qualifications
a check to establish the person's right to work in the UK
a section 128 check

Colleges must record whether the person's position involves 'relevant activity' (regularly caring, training, supervising or being solely in charge of persons aged under 18)

Schools and colleges must also include whether written confirmation of relevant checks have been carried out and appropriate certificates have been obtained by the business supplying agency and third party staff.

Single Central Records Best Practice

The single central record can be used to store other relevant information such as checklist of safeguarding training and the date undertaken.

Ensure your single central record is compliant with statutory guidance with our Single Central Record Health check

The aim of this health check is to review your single central record; compare with requirements of KCSiE and Ofsted expectations; check for gaps in data and ensure that your recording is effective and works best for the school or college.

The health check includes an initial visit, action plan and follow up.

Cost: £339 plus VAT

To find out more and book your health check contact Denise Hannibal:

Telephone: 01905 844436

Email:Dhannibal@worcestershire.gov.uk

Safeguarding training

The Safeguarding Subscription has been designed to ensure schools and colleges have an effective, relevant, and compliant safeguarding culture.

To achieve this schools and colleges need to have the required level of training alongside appropriate approaches to quality assure safeguarding practices and procedures.

Included within the subscription we offer subsidised training for all those involved in keeping children safe in education.

All training and services offered adhere to ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ (September 2024) guidance and meet the expectations of Worcestershire Safeguarding Children Partnership.

We offer opportunities throughout the year for training on issues relevant to schools and academies in the local area for a small additional cost. If you identify a training need for your school or college please do not hesitate to contact the training team by email: workforcesupport@worcestershire.gov.uk

Universal training for ALL school DSL / DDSL’s

Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) network meeting

Core Training Included within Safeguarding Subscription

introduction to role of Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) 6-hour session specific training for NEW DSLs/DDSL’s
DSL training 6-hour specific training for DSLs and DDSLs
managing allegations against staff or volunteers