To think this is why more parents don’t volunteer

[Hoppinggreen]

So DH has been asked by a teacher (via DS) to help with a certain after school club where he has expertise. He is happy to do it and will finish work early that day to do it. So far so good BUT Aibu to think that the hoops he has to jump through to do it are a bit ott?
Firstly he has had to fill in a 10 page document, then he has to have a DBS, then he has to complete an online safeguarding course, attend an induction in School and present 2 forms of ID “to make sure he is who he says he is”
DH works on a govt contract and has high level security and 2 current DBS certs ( one less than 6 months old). We have also had children at the school for the past 8 years and I am well known to the school as well ( for the right reasons!). He has volunteered there before but as it was over 12 months ago he has to do all this for 1 hour once a week where he will be accompanied by a teacher anyway.
He works full time, some times with long hours and is a highly paid expert in this subject - if I hadn’t offered to sort most of this out for him I doubt he would be bothering
So Aibu to think this is a bit excessive? What do other schools do?
I know that safeguarding is important but all this will tell them is that he has no convictions, nothing else.

However I still accept that it, and the yearly form filling and 3 hour online course is what I need to do.

I’m a bit confused by some of the aggressive and unkind posts on this thread (fluffy and others) the 10 page document is not a legal requirement. The DBs admitdily takes no work from the volunteer (although lots of money for schools)

There is no doubt this amount of bureaucracy stops people volunteering. Im a governor and haven’t had this many checks (and I wouldn’t do them) don’t give me this - sorts the wheat from the chaf bullshit. The schools desperately need skilled qualified people to volunteer and they shouldn’t be turning them off. All their doing is filtering them out and ending up with those who have plenty of time on their hands.

A place I volunteer at only insists on DBS for those who will be likely to be alone with a child/children. We've been told that's fine.

No, I think it's the inablility to leave work early and commit time every week that puts many parents off volunteering. Not spending a 1-off hour or so filling out some necessary paperwork.

How do you know? It would stop me. What about the PP who volunteered for work experience until asked to produce multiple policies and procedures she didn’t have?

It's not having any spare time for some. The attitude to volunteers is pretty shitty too- you only have to read Mumsnet to see that.

I agree that checks are vital and an important safeguarding tool. They are necessary. However, there has to be a better way of doing them.
People are put off volunteering, because arrangements for training and checks can be impractical when people work.

I often direct amateur productions involving children (often children in my class). Chaperoning training in my area is really difficult to do. After completing online courses/forms, you then have to present yourself to an office to have your documents checked. There are not many offices in my area which do this, so it involves driving for miles. Unfortunately you can only go on a specific date and time when they say which is something silly like 4pm. Not great if you work or are doing the school run. The check isn't to see if you are suitable, but merely to show documents. Most parents can't easily do this. You also have to allow 6 weeks, by which time the show might be over. As a result we are struggling to put on shows with children as can't get enough people willing to volunteer as a chaperone. Many amateur groups now won't do shows with children because of this. My DD's dance school also has the same issues.

OP it is great that your husband is volunteering. Most people want other people to do lovely activities with their children, but are not prepared to be a volunteer themselves.

Of course a DBS check isn't going to necessarily filter out anyone who is a risk to children. But as the Larry Nasser case in the US recently shows, some people abuse children even when there is a chaperone.

Of course volunteers have access to them outside the classroom. Huntley being a example of that. Huntley murdered those 2 little girls whilst outside of school and they were from a different school to the one he worked in. He also worked in a school, he had a caretaker job so was obviously actively seeking to work near children. He was not a parent coming in to volunteer at request of a teacher.

If these people want to abuse children, unfortunately they will do it. A DBS check would not stop that. If he was employed in the local chip shop, he would still have done what he did.

I dont think anyone is suggesting that regular contact with children in a school should not need background checks. The op is suggesting that the rest of it, the online course, the intro course, the 10 page application would put some people off volunteering and I beleive she is right, it would.

A parent coming in to hear children read or helping with a club or on an outing, should not have to do all of this.

I agree with you OP, and sorry for some of the hostile responses you seem to have had. It’s a very valid point, and certainly one that is very much shared by many people at our dc’s school. Different schools have different policies too. All the schools I had volunteered with before, required DBS check alone. And that’s to be expected. But then the next school my DC attended, not only required a full DBS check, but also required the full application process! Academic & employment history, fully evidenced..two references, medical questionnaire, completion of safeguarding and first aid courses, and a lengthy personal statement to boot! Funnily enough..they are short on volunteers

YANBU (though I would guess that most parents don't volunteer because they are too busy or too disengaged to bother rather than because of the paperwork)

Newer DBS checks can be portable so that you don't need to get a new one for every single job and volunteer position

I think it would put some people off and finding the correct forms of Id is difficult for some people however I looking from the schools perspective can you imagine what Ofsted would say if their safeguarding procedure was 'his wife said he had a good job

No issue with DBS being requested for volunteering.
But it's the requirement that seems to be sneaking in that you have to do a morning's mandatory safeguarding training that I think is really dangerous in terms of putting people off.
I've done it twice for different organisations but if I offer to help at the two day summer camp at uni this year, I would be expected to do another one!

My mother was head of a primary school and so ultimately responsible for safeguarding. She retired recently and volunteered somewhere which made her spend a morning on safeguarding training. She did to but it is a massive barrier to people volunteering if it becomes the norm.

YANBU. The school is being OTT. As you have explained many times, he is going to be accompanied by a teacher at all times.
Yes, volunteers should have checks (I have 3 DBSs myself), but this is accompanying a teacher so he can share his expertise. Hours of form filling is going to make no difference to the children's safety, but is going to put people off giving 'an hour' of the=ir time, if it becomes '5 hours' of their time.

It seems a bit OTT. Is it only the UK that is like this?

Bit how would a school demonstrate that all people involved with the children had an u understanding if the schools safeguarding procedures without training. It's not just about stopping baddies coming into the school. It's also about knowing what to do if you have a concern. E.g. see bruises or a child discloses something as it turns out the club us the place they feel safest

Well tbh given that the world is full of sick and twisted people. And there have been instances of people WORKING with children who have behaved in disgusting, appalling ways (Ian Huntley, Maxine Carr, Vanessa George to name a few)
It makes sense to have these policies in place. The world is a messed up place. And once it's done, then you can volunteer as much as you like. It isn't something I would be moaning about OP.
It's to keep your OH safe and protect the school and the children in it.

OP, your right. If I had to fill out everything your husband has just to help out for one hour I wouldn’t do it.

I have plenty going on in my life and I don’t need a load more added to the pile.

The basic government check won't include a check of the barred list - people who have been fired from safeguarding environments for misconduct but haven't necessarily been prosecuted.

I deal with this every day, people who are excited to volunteer and help, but don't want to dig out documents, fill out forms and contact references. It is the bane of my life.

Completely OTT if he is going to be with a teacher the whole time anyway. The world has gone mad. If he is to be alone with kids then yes DBS and references. The course on safeguarding tho not sure how that's really needed if it's one hour a week kind of thing.

It makes sense to have these policies in place

It makes sense to have policies in place. But not sensible to assume that because you have policies, they are good ones, or useful ones, or do what you think they do. Because these policies do pretty much squat.

and I need a DBS check every 6 months to help out on DS' basketball team.

That seems excessive! DBS Checks don't actually expire because they're only accurate on the day they're carried out. It's then up to the organisation to set the renewal interval.

6 months is mad!

I volunteer with an organisation, take kids away camping for weekends at a time & my last one was nearly 3 years ago & there are no plans for a renewal anytime soon!

If it makes you feel any better, the voluntary role I do required all that paperwork, a considerably longer time commitment, and if the charity I work with folds then I am personally liable for any outstanding debts! Ain't volunteering grand?!

A volunteer should never be unsupervised in a school. So long as they are supervised, they're not in a regulated activity. Processes need to be followed, we don't ever want to repent at leisure, so our volunteer sign a code of conduct, read the safeguarding statement, sign to acknowledge. But still never left alone with a child. It's not their role. Our parents are a fantastic bunch, very supportive on so many fronts, and we value them, and every single regular helper has a DBS.

The DBs admitdily takes no work from the volunteer

This is not true. I lived overseas and I was asked to do a DBS check. I was happy to do it until I was told I had to contact my ex country's consulate and go down to a police station to have fingerprints done. I then had to have my previous country's police force do a check on me. In the end I decided not to go ahead with the task I was being DBS checked for because I felt this was really intrusive.

I have to add that of the 4 countries I have lived in, the UK is the only one where I am made to feel like there is a predator waiting to hurt my DC at every opportunity. I admit that we need to keep DC safe but is it really that bad here? Why is it worse than other countries? I always had this in the back of why mind wherever I lived but here it is an all day, every day source of anxiety.