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.

Just two points

1. Children seeing an adult in school easily make the assumption this is a "safe" adult. This is the first level of contact which WILL be safe if it is always supervised. But how safe is it if the child comes into contact with this same adult out of school? This could be as part of subtle grooming in school moving into another venue or coincidental meeting.
2. A rigorous application process gives the message "we take safeguarding seriously", meaning predators think it will harder to start inappropriate behaviours or contact and make them think twice as to whether this school is worth the effort of getting in to.

Those bemoaning the lack of volunteers and clubs closing, that's sad but preferable to what might happen. I'd rather the children missed out on a club than suffer at the hands of an abuser.

You are right it does put some people off. I work with children so have a disclosure Scotland for that. I volunteer at a cadet group. I need another DS for that and I also volunteer at one of my children's school. Another DS for that. My first disclosure cost £59 and subsequent ones have cost me £25 (ish I think). Only the school offered to pay for it which I refused because I'd asked to volunteer

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 hmm

That would put me off too. In fact an overly lengthy application process puts me off applying for paid roles too! My thinking being if I have to wade through this much bureaucracy before I even have the job, it's not going to get any better when I'm in the job.

Incidentally, I believe a paper DBS expires after three years - mine certainly does.

YABU - these rigorous checks happen for a purpose. A very good one.

Only the school offered to pay for it which I refused because I'd asked to volunteer

That's pretty mad...

If the organisation requires checks for me to volunteer and help them out, the organisation pays for it - the amount I'm saving them by volunteering more than makes up for it!

“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?!”

@dojo I’m experienced in charity accounting and never heard of this- are you sure? Legally no one is personally liable for a charities debts unless there are extenuating circumstances such as fraud

I’ve never heard of that banyantree- fingerprints/ police station visits aren’t standard at all. Usually you fill the form, take your ID to the school/ workplace whoever is requesting it then a few weeks later it gets sent back to you.

Thing is I don’t believe it makes kids any safer quite the opposite as all the common sense is take out and replaced by form filling and I’ve seen to many oh he / she’s safe as has a DBS. But dbs only proves on that date they weren’t caught and nothing else.

I’ve dealt with two child abuse cases where both adults involved had cleared passed all the checks but where serial abuses as they’d never been caught at that point.

For an hour afterschool club where a member of staff is present this is totally over the top. If they where running the club on there own then yes.

DBS and safeguarding are no use if no common sense added they’re just bits of paper that may or not prove someone’s not been caught.

The fact that it puts people off volunteering is kind of the point. It shouldn't be easy to get access to children or vulnerable adults.

Having said that, for a one-off class, supervised by the class teacher, I wouldn't necessarily expect a check to be in place.

It’s not really the point at all. It’s not supposed to be onerous, and a DBS isn’t, really. A DBS will probably put off a criminal, which is good. But it’s the additional paperwork that has been asked for that will put off good people who could benefit the children greatly

YABVU, if a volunteer is put off by completing the safeguarding paperwork they shouldn't be volunteering. It's very simple.

What does your DH being "highly paid" have to do with all this?

Are you implying that parent volunteers who earn Minimum Wage should expect to have to "jump through hoops" but wealthier parents shouldn't have to because form filling is somehow beneath them?

Or do you think rich people don't abuse children and therefore it's uneccessary for them to be subject to rigourous safeguarding checks?

Or perhaps it was just a stealth boast.

The legal requirements for schools regarding safeguarding are onerous, thorough and quite extreme for a reason. I know visitors and volunteers find it time consuming. I know you understand the need for the DBS check. The course is a more recent development. Our volunteers have to read a long document and sign to say they have. Every single time. The information shows the volunteer how to protect themselves (i.e. Not put themselves in a position where they could be accused of something) and also what procedures are if they feel a child is at risk or a child discloses. You might think that is unlikely but what if the volunteer has a concern about the teacher either through something they see or hear. All people who have contact with children, even supervised, need to know how to protect them.

I couldn't possibly get wound up about this op , if it's about protecting our children and vulnerable people then you just do it.

Most schools do their own dbs even if you have an existing one as it's the safest way of proceeding.

Very interesting reading this thread. As I mentioned before, I live overseas and parents are not screened in any way whatsoever when they volunteer at our school. People are much more community focused here and generally more trusting of each other and I'm not sure how something like this would go down with parents or society as a whole. Having said that, many of the comments here have made me think twice and that some sort of checks would be a good idea. I do think too much red tape would put people off though...of course it would. I also don't understand the vitriol aimed at the OP who has asked a perfectly reasonable question. And what's with the snide comments about her husband? It seems to me that he just wants to help and is actually willing to undergo the checks and training in order to do so

Minister i was wondering if i was being sensitive about that part, glad you picked op on it.

very badly. OP was saying nothing of the sort. Highly paid to do a particular thing, with little time, and being asked to volunteer..... you can't beg people to help on one hand and then order them to do all manner of timewasting hoop jumping to do what they didn't really want to do in the first place.

"time wasting hoop jumping"? To protect children? Just have a look at occasions when abuse, exploitation, even murder has occurred. Maybe a bit of inconvenience is a small price to pay.

No, you're not getting at all. Just because someone says "these forms protect children" doesn't mean they actually do anything at all.
How gullible are you?

I was actually wondering if this was standard across all schools rather than expecting for my lovely DH to be called “selfish”amongst other things but this IS AIBU!!

Absolutely standard! One of my roles in my last school was actually to ensure that these procedures were carried out!

ust have a look at occasions when abuse, exploitation, even murder has occurred

Not a single one would ever have been prevented with a "safeguarding course" of the type stated here.

Honestly, its scary that people actually think that this shit does anything, and they ignore the things that actually would help. You might as well send a class into the nearest prison for all the good you actually do.

If he is on the DBS update service it's no drama.

Gobsmacked people think there should be no checks, or it's too much trouble!!

Nobody said that at all.

To answer your original question, YANBU to think this is why more people don't volunteer. It is a lot of effort for someone who only wants to help out for an hour a week. I'm a school admin officer currently trying to sort out the DBS for a dozen volunteers and it's pulling hens teeth trying to get them to do the online bit AND bring in the documents to be photocopied. I've had people pull out too as they've not managed to sort out the correct documents. It needs to be done, although an easier way would be great.