Operation Encompass: PSNI alert schools to domestic abuse incidents

About 135 schools across the Downpatrick, Newry and South Armagh areas took part in Operation Encompass

Schools were alerted by the police to almost 600 pupils affected by domestic violence in the first year of a new scheme.

About 135 schools in the Downpatrick, Newry and south Armagh areas took part in Operation Encompass in 2021-22.

Operation Encompass enables the police to tell school staff if a pupil has been affected by domestic violence.

Schools in the scheme were informed 400 times about such an incident in just five months from February to June 2022.

Operation Encompass began in 60 schools in Northern Ireland at the start of the 2021-22 school year.

It was then extended to include more than 70 additional schools - including nurseries, primaries, post-primaries and special schools - in February 2022.

According to the Department of Education (DE), a further 325 schools in the Southern and South Eastern Health Trust areas will be added to Operation Encompass in September 2022.

That means schools from North Down and Ards, Lisburn, Dungannon, Craigavon, Armagh and Banbridge will join the scheme, taking the total number involved to more than 460.

It will then be extended to all schools across Northern Ireland in 2023.

Operation Encompass is a partnership between the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), the Safeguarding Board Northern Ireland (SBNI), the Education Authority (EA) and schools.

The scheme - aimed at supporting children who witness domestic abuse or violence at home - has been in operation by police forces in England and Wales for a number of years.

If the PSNI attend a domestic abuse incident where children are present, they contact the child's school before 09:00 the following morning so that teachers with responsibility for safeguarding are aware and can offer support.

According to the PSNI, they attended 306 domestic incidents affecting 586 pupils in the schools covered by Operation Encompass in the 2021-22 school year.

"As a result, with consent received by the parents, 450 referrals were made by Police to the Designated Teacher at these children's schools," the PSNI told BBC News NI.

A referral to a school can involve more than one child.

The PSNI made 400 further referrals between February and June this year

According to the PSNI, the number of referrals rose significantly after more schools were added to the scheme in February 2022.

The Department of Education had previously said there were about 50 referrals to schools involving 106 pupils between September 2021 and January 2022.

However, the PSNI told BBC News NI that they had made a further 400 referrals to schools from 1 February 2022 to 30 June 2022.

In a statement, Detective Superintendent Lindsay Fisher from the PSNI's Public Protection Branch said there could be lasting effects on children exposed to domestic abuse.

"A child who is experiencing and/or witnessing physical, emotional and psychological abuse at home will go to school the next day often requiring emotional help and support," she said.

"It is important that our education colleagues are made aware in quick time when a child has suffered or witnessed domestic abuse.

"Operation Encompass is therefore another way the Police Service of Northern Ireland is cementing our commitment to tackling and breaking the cycle of domestic abuse and we have already been able to support hundreds of children."

Operation Encompass came into effect as a result of new domestic abuse laws in Northern Ireland in 2021.