Safeguarding

If you have a safeguarding concern, please contact the school on 020 3336 3593 and speak to the Headteacher and DLS, Stephanie Salter. Alternatively, phone the school office and ask to speak to any of the staff members below.

We are proud that safeguarding is an integral part of Odyssey House School Bloomsbury’s ethos. A safe and caring environment helps our pupils flourish into confident, happy people with a positive outlook. We listen to any concerns or worries our pupils have and act accordingly to support them and ensure they are well cared for. Our links to outside agencies, our own school counsellors, and our safeguarding team’s commitment to our pupils’ welfare provide the extra layer of protection some children require.

Our safeguarding team all have regular external training to allow them to do their job with skill, knowledge and confidence. All staff working in the school have safeguarding training annually. This covers general safeguarding requirements, a deeper focus on a topic that is relevant at the time and a section on the Keeping Children Safe in Education guidance. This gives all the staff the confidence they need to notice potential problems and raise any concerns in a timely and appropriate way. We use CPOMS as our recording and reporting platform and all staff are Level 3 trained in safeguarding.

We know that working in partnership with parents, carers, and outside agencies is vital to helping our pupils achieve their full potential. There are occasions when our concern about a child may mean that we have to consult other agencies. Whilst we would always aim to work in partnership with parents, there may be exceptions to this when concerns are raised for the protection of a child.

On very rare occasions Social Care, whilst undertaking an investigation under Section 47 of the Children Act 1989, may want to speak to a child without parents’ knowledge.  This would be a decision made in collaboration with partner agencies and would only be done in situations where a child might be at immediate risk.  To gain consent at this point may increase the level of risk to the child or cause evidence of a crime to be lost.  To promote a safe environment for pupils, our recruitment policy includes all checks on staff and regular volunteers’ suitability, including Criminal Records checks, as per current legislation.

The procedures, which we follow, have been laid down by the Local Safeguarding Children’s Board, and the school has adopted a Child Protection Policy in line with this for the safety of all. If you want to know more about our procedures, please speak to the Headteacher: the Policy can be found on the school website https://www.odysseyeducationgroup.co.uk/bloomsbury-london/policies/

Useful links if you have a concern about a child or would like some more information:

https://cscp.org.uk/(this has lots of links to helpful organisations and information and is also where you can report a concern about a child)

https://www.nspcc.org.uk/ (helpful information about how to safeguard children and links to get support)

Or for More information on Keeping Children Safe in Education guidance visit: