The aim of Townville Academy’s safeguarding policy is to create a safe and supportive environment, ensuring children are safe at school and at home.

Everyone has a shared objective to help keep children and young people safe by contributing to:

• Providing a safe environment for children and young people to learn and develop in our school setting.
• Identifying children and young people who are suffering or likely to suffer significant harm.
• Taking appropriate action with the aim of making sure they are kept safe both at home and in our school.

All those in positions of responsibility have completed training to ensure they are aware of how to maintain safe and supportive environments for all. This involves identification of concerns, appropriate reporting mechanisms and action to prevent harm (which may require external, independent organisations and bodies).

Meet our safeguarding team:

Everyone takes personal responsibility on a daily basis to ensure children are kept safe.

We do this by:

• Meeting Health and Safety standards
• DBS checking all staff, students, governors and volunteers
• Keeping essential training up to date (paediatric first aid, food safety, safeguarding etc)
• Securing our site, including data protection
• Liaising with outside agencies – Health Visitors, Social Care, SEN Services
• Meeting our Prevent Duty requirements

Key contacts

• Safeguarding Policy 2025-26
• E-safety policy 2025
• Keeping Children Safe In Education 2025
• Working Together to Safeguard Children 2023
• What to do if you think a child is being abused
• Wakefield Families Together

The Wakefield Families Together website provides advice and support around Early Help.

Operation Encompass

Operation Encompass is a police and education early information sharing partnership enabling schools to offer immediate support for children and young people experiencing domestic abuse. Information is shared by the police with a school’s trained Key Adult (DSL) prior to the start of the next school day after officers have attended a domestic abuse incident, enabling appropriate support to be given, dependent upon the needs and wishes of the child.

Children experiencing domestic abuse are negatively impacted by this exposure; domestic abuse has been identified as an Adverse Childhood Experience and can lead to emotional, physical and psychological harm. Operation Encompass aims to mitigate this harm by enabling immediate support, making a child’s day better and giving them a better tomorrow.

Operation Encompass believes that children are victims of domestic abuse in their own right and should be acknowledged as such.