Talking safeguarding today with teachers and safeguarding leads from across Oxfordshire. Last year I launched an education strategy to make sure the support for schools is consistent across Thames Valley. Every secondary school has a named Schools Officer and each primary school has links into their local Neighbourhood Policing Team. There's a deliberate focus on support and interventions at the transition between primary and secondary schools, with age-appropriate work relating to bullying, anti-social behaviour, knife crime, and exploitation. There is more work still to do however on Op Encompass - the way police should be sharing important information with schools. As well as making sure the system works as it should, I would like to see the scope of Op Encompass expanded, beyond just what the law requires to provide a gold standard - but it's definitely not there yet! As a (very new) school governor myself, it was really useful to discuss what's going on in other schools across the county. Although we must also remember that the children in schools are often the easiest to reach. The ones I am most concerned about are those children who are persistently absent or excluded from school, an area I continue to work with local authorities and schools on to try to help improve attendance. #safeguarding #schools #education #OpEncompass
