Domestic abuse and violence has a devastating effect on victims, their children, their families and the wider community. It is a crime and it is unacceptable at any level. It involves patterns of coercive, controlling or threatening behaviour and can involve physical, psychological, financial, emotional and sexual abuse.

Are you afraid of someone you know or live with?

No one should have to put up with any kind of violence or abuse. Everyone has the right to personal safety – so if you are worried then ask for help. If it has happened once it is likely to happen again. Even if it has been happening for years it is never too late to seek help. (RBSCB)

Please refer to the Rochdale Borough Council website for further contact details and support.

Our school is now part of Operation Encompass.

Operation Encompass is a unique Police and Education early intervention safeguarding partnership which supports children and young people exposed to domestic abuse.
Being part of this project means our school will receive a notification from Greater Manchester Police before the start of the next school day when a child or young person has been involved in or exposed to a domestic abuse incident the previous day. When incidents occur on a Friday, Saturday or a Sunday, the police will contact our school on the following Monday.

The information is given in confidence to the schools Key Adult and will enable support to be given dependant on the needs and wishes of the child.

The Key Adults at our school are Mr Clough, Mrs Carr, Mrs Darnbrough, Miss Dutt, Miss Cootes and Mrs Crosby. They have received a briefing about this project and the impact of Domestic Abuse on children and young people.

Our school always endeavours to offer the best support possible to our pupils and we are proud to be part of the Operation Encompass intervention as we believe this is a crucial way in which we can support the children and young people in our care.

Some information about Encompass is included in this letter but if you would like more information about this new initiative, full details of the policy can be found on Rochdale’s Safeguarding Board’s website.

Thank you for your continued support.

Encompass – School commitment statement

As part of Matthew Moss High School’s commitment to keeping children safe we have signed up to implement the principles and aims of the Encompass Model.

In signing up to Encompass the Governing Body and Senior Leadership Team:

• Endorse the Encompass Model and support the Key Adults in our school to fulfil the requirements of the Rochdale Encompass Protocol

• Promote and implement Rochdale Encompass processes and use these in accordance with internal safeguarding children processes

• Recognise the sensitive nature of the information provided and ensure that this is retained in accordance with the principles of data protection

Mr James Bannon – Chair of Governors

Ms C Leach-Rogers – Headteacher 

Female Genital Mutilation

FGM stands for Female Genital Mutilation. It is also known as Female Genital Cutting, Female Circumcision and ‘Sunna’.

FGM is defined as “all procedures which include the partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.

FGM is a form of child abuse and it is illegal in the UK.

It is also illegal to send or take a child to another country to have any FGM procedure performed.

What you can do

If you are worried about a child or young person who is at risk of FGM or has had FGM, you must share this information.

Please visit the Rochdale Borough Safeguarding Partnership.

Useful Contacts:

Concerned about a child?  Please call 0300 303 0440  

Concerned about an adult?  Please call 0300 303 8886   

If you believe that someone is in immediate danger, call the police on 999 or 101

24 hour. free and anonymous NSPCC Helpline: 0800 0283550

New Step for African Community (NESTAC) holds SOS Drop-in clinics at Kirkholt Medical Practice in Rochdale on Thursday between 11am – 2pm