Safeguarding
Co-op Academy Hamilton is committed to safeguarding every student.
We acknowledge that safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility and ensure all our staff are trained to be vigilant and aware of the signs of abuse and understand and follow safe working practices.
Mrs L Brandrick - Designated Safeguarding Lead
Useful Links
Operation Encompass:
Co-op Academy Hamilton is part of the project that will run jointly between schools and Staffordshire Police. This is a very successful project which has been rolled out across the country with a number of police forces and the schools within their area. Operation Encompass is the reporting to schools, prior to the start of the next school day, following an incident where a child or young person has experienced any domestic abuse.
How do the schools receive notification by the police that a domestic incident has occurred?
When an officer attends the incident and completes the risk assessment on their handheld device, the name(s) of the children who form part of the household (whether present or not) are included. Alongside the details of the child, the officer will select the school that the child attends from the dropdown list. By completing this section of the risk assessment, the officer generates an automatic referral to the school via email in real time.
How does the notification help to support the child?
Children experiencing domestic abuse are negatively impacted by this exposure and this can lead to emotional, physical and psychological harm. By providing the school with the knowledge that a domestic incident has taken place in the child’s home the previous day, it allows the school to put support in place for the child should they need to before they arrive at school.
Operation Encompass will ensure that a member of the school staff, (Designated Safeguarding Lead) known as a Key Adult, is trained to allow them to liaise with the police and to use the information that has been shared, in confidence, while ensuring that the school is able to make provision for possible difficulties experienced by children, or their families, who have been experienced a domestic abuse incident. We are keen to offer the best support possible to all our pupils, and we believe this will be extremely beneficial for all those involved.