Domestic abuse: School alert scheme extended across Northern Ireland

Operation Encompass will be rolled out in all Northern Ireland schools from Wednesday

A man who witnessed his mother being abused by his father as a child has welcomed a new initiative to support child victims of domestic violence.

Paul - not his real name - is now 28 years old, and some of his earliest memories include hearing arguments between his parents.

When he was six he witnessed his father hit his mother for the first time.

The PSNI said it responded to about 90 domestic abuse calls each day and children were often present.

Det Supt Lindsay Fisher said Operation Encompass "recognises children as unseen victims of domestic abuse".

Paul said he struggled at school trying to deal with what he had experienced.

A scheme to support young children who witness domestic violence at home will now be extended to schools across Northern Ireland.

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

The partnership between the Police Service of Northern Ireland, Education Authority (EA), the Safeguarding Board for Northern Ireland and schools was launched in 60 County Down schools in 2021.

It was later extended to cover 400 other schools in County Down, County Armagh and County Tyrone.

It has been in operation in police forces in England and Wales for a number of years.

Police said that since the start of the 2021 school year, officers attended 2,121 domestic incidents with 3,774 children affected.

A total of 3,160 referrals have been made by officers to the designated teacher at the relevant school as a result.

Police officers will inform teachers after they attend a domestic abuse incident in a pupil's home (stock image)

From Wednesday, the scheme will be rolled out in all of Northern Ireland's 1,162 schools.

If an officer attends a domestic violence call out where children are present, they will contact the child's school before 09:00 the following morning to share this information with the school's safeguarding team.

This is to ensure the correct support can be put in place.

'I would sit frozen'

Paul said the scheme would have helped him when he was younger.

"To know as a child that a teacher was aware of it - if I am having a real issue then I could go and speak to them - that would have been great," he told BBC News NI.

"Whereas back then it was just me, no-one else knew, I hardly told any of my friends."

Despite attempts from his mother to shield him from the violence, Paul remembers the fighting between his parents from a young age.

"I've loads of memories of loads of yelling.

"I remember one time coming into the kitchen and seeing him throw a cereal bowl at her and her trying to make a joke out of and [that] it was just an accident.

"Parents convince themselves that the kids don't know, but we do, but I didn't comment on it or anything like that.

"I would find a spot somewhere and just sit...frozen, having to listen to it - and then there was always the disconnect when my mum would have tried to make light of it or I'd be pretending I didn't hear it."

Det Supt Lindsay Fisher said children were often the unseen victims of domestic abuse crimes

"We know the impact of the trauma that children experience from seeing, overhearing or coming back into a house where there has been a domestic abuse incident," said Det Supt Fisher.

"The scheme allows us to share information with schools in quick time so that we can best protect and support children through times that are incredibly difficult for them."

She said the support and understanding that teachers could provide should never be underestimated.

Scheme 'huge advantage'

Interim head of child protection at the EA Michael Kelly described the scheme as a "gamechanger".

"It's a great way to be creative, show some initiative and try and limit the trauma that these kids have been exposed to," he said.

"It's a big move forward in terms of supporting children and limiting trauma that they're exposed to."

Principal James Curran has welcomed the roll out of the scheme

James Curran, principal of Harberton Special School in Belfast, said the new scheme is highly beneficial to know what is happening in a child's home life.

"To be given that heads up when a child has experienced a challenge in their home life... that's information we can use in schools to ensure that we are more understanding of what that child has gone through," he said.

"It's a huge advantage for us as teachers and schools to know what a child is putting up with at home."