CHILDREN and young people in Pembrokeshire who witness the distressing scenes of domestic abuse are now receiving support from their school the very next day.

About one in five children in the UK are exposed to domestic violence according to the NSPCC – and following an incident, they often go to school with little or no support.

‘Operation Encompass’ seeks to combat this.

The scheme means that the police will provide a report for schools before 9am the following day when a pupil has been exposed to a domestic abuse incident the previous evening.

The information is given in strict confidence to the school’s designated safeguarding officer to enable support to be given dependent on the needs and wishes of the child, said Alastair Birch from Pembrokeshire County Council.

“The key adult won’t raise the issue with the pupil but they will keep a very close eye on them and if there are any issues, practical or emotional, they will step in and help,” said Alastair, Equalities and Safeguarding senior system leader.

“The approach is ‘be aware, be prepared’.

“If they turn up with no uniform, they’ll be given a uniform. If they haven’t had breakfast, they’ll be given breakfast. If they want to talk, the adult is there to listen.

“It’s absolutely vital that we give early, quick support to that child or young person.”

Operation Encompass has been set up jointly by Pembrokeshire County Council and Dyfed-Powys Police.

Pembrokeshire is the first authority in Dyfed-Powys to introduce the scheme. It already operates in several force areas in England.

Kate Evan-Hughes, Director for Children and Schools at Pembrokeshire County Council, said: “Children do come to school upset, distressed and can have an awful day and there may appear to be no clear reason for it. But actually there’s a whole background to why they’re behaving that way. Encompass lets them know if something has happened at home and it’s affecting the child.

“It allows the school to put into place the pastoral care for the child, discreetly and immediately and ensures that someone understands why the child may be behaving differently.

“Just having staff knowing makes a big difference.

“In many cases where a child has witnessed domestic violence that information has often not been shared with a school until many weeks after the event – this may have led to a lack of understanding about a child’ s behaviour and inappropriate consequences. Operation Encompass puts the child first and will help to make sure that support and understanding is there straight away.

“We are excited to be the first in the area to introduce the programme and look forward to sharing our learning and experiences with our partners on the regional safeguarding board.”

Detective Inspector Elaine Bendle, Dyfed-Powys Police, said: “Protecting vulnerable people is a priority for Dyfed-Powys Police and I am pleased to work side-by-side with Pembrokeshire County Council on Operation Encompass.

“This model is recognised as best practice and has the potential to make a real difference to some of our county’s most vulnerable children.

“The feedback so far has been promising; a full review will take place in a few months and if this pilot is successful we hope to roll Operation Encompass out across the whole force area.”

A local headteacher said: “As part of ‘Operation Encompass’ we have to date received important information at the start of the school day. The information has been very valuable to us as a school.

“We are grateful for the support of ‘Operation Encompass’ in helping us keep our pupils safe. It is reassuring to know that there is a system in place to safeguard our children both in and out of school.”