Safeguarding
Everyone has a Responsibility to Keep Children and Young People Safe
Every school must have a Child Protection Policy – often referred to as the school’s Safeguarding Policy. The aim of the policy is to ensure that our school has effective measures in place to safeguard your children from the potential risk of harm and that the safety and wellbeing of the children are of the highest priority in all aspects of our school’s work. Having the policy in place ensures that all members of your school community:
- Are aware of their responsibilities in relation to safeguarding and child protection
- Know the procedures that should be followed if they have a cause for concern
- Know where to go to find additional information regarding safeguarding
- Are aware of the key indicators relating to child abuse
- Fully support the school’s commitment to safeguarding and child protection
At Westfield we believe that child should be able to go to school and feel safe so that they can achieve their very best. Anybody who works or volunteers at Westfield will be asked to complete a DBS to make sure they are safe to work with children and then trained to identify child abuse and what to do if they are concerned.
For more information on how you can support the school with any safeguarding please refer to our Safeguarding Policy or speak to the school’s Designated Safeguarding Lead, Miss Flanagan who is contactable via email on dsl@westfield.e-sussex.sch.uk. Mrs Battisson and Mrs Atkinson are Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leads.
Westfield Operation Encompass Safeguarding Statement 2025
Our school is part of Operation Encompass. Operation Encompass is a national police and education early intervention safeguarding partnership which supports children who experience Domestic Abuse. Operation Encompass is in place in every police force in England and Wales, the Isle of Man, Jersey, Guernsey, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Gibraltar.
Children were recognised as victims of domestic abuse in their own right in the 2021 Domestic Abuse Act. There is a legislative requirement for police forces to share information with educational settings through Operation Encompass. Through Operation Encompass the police will share information with our school about ALL police attended domestic abuse incidents which involve any of our children who are related to either of the adults involved in the incident. This sharing of information will occur PRIOR to the start of the next school day. The notification will inform us about the context of the incident and will include the Voice of the Child. The Operation Encompass notification is stored in line with all other confidential safeguarding and child protection information.
The Headteacher, DSL and DDSLs at Westfield School have undertaken the key adult training. Once a Key Adult (DSL) and their deputy/ies (DDSLs) have completed the free National Online Operation Encompass Key Adult training they will cascade the principles of Operation Encompass to all other staff. The Key Adult /s have led training for all staff and Governors about Operation Encompass, the prevalence of Domestic Abuse and the impact of this abuse on children. All staff are encouraged undertake the online training.
Our parents/carers are fully aware that we are an Operation Encompass school and we ensure that when a new child joins our school the parents/carers are informed about Operation Encompass. We display the Operation Encompass posters.
As a school we have also discussed how we can support our children who are experiencing Domestic Abuse on a day-to-day basis and particularly following the Operation Encompass notification. We have used the free Operation Encompass Handbooks to inform our thinking. We are aware that we must do nothing that puts the child/ren or the non-abusing adult at risk.
The Safeguarding Governor will report on Operation Encompass in the termly report to Governors. All information is anonymised for these reports.