School volunteering

[Me55ymummy]

I volunteered for a school trip whilst there I discussed with the teachers about volunteering for reading etc.

I said I would be happy to help, the admin office then emailed a volunteering application form, my education, employee history, two referees and a section to fill in giving reasons why I want to volunteer… that’s before a DBS check… am I being unreasonable thinking this is asking too much?

I currently volunteer with a Brownie Pack and was only ever asked to fill in a DBS form.

I’m a teacher and it sounds like overkill to me.

Parent helpers are greatly appreciated but can be a bit of minefield so maybe they’ve had bad experiences before? They might have put those procedures in place to hopefully put anyone off who might just want to be nosey at what’s going on in school/with someone else’s child 🤦🏽‍♀️. Unfortunately it does happen.

I've volunteered at 4 different schools now and only needed DBS. That's really over the top.

It seems a bit much a dbs check should be fine, but as pp said they are maybe trying to weed out nosey parents

I’ve had to fill in forms for volunteering, but that sounds very much over the top. I found professional referees difficult, because I’m retired. If organisations want volunteers they should make it possible to do so, without jumping through hoops like these. Surely a DBS should suffice.

Thanks, I could understand that if they were inundated but the school doesn’t have any, due to COVID all volunteering was stopped. I can see this process stopping people from volunteering- it’s certainly given me second thoughts.

I think it's OK. They're probably trying to ensure that they only get people who are genuinely committed to doing it. Plus it might be part of their safeguarding procedures.

I'd say this was more or less standard and is part of "Safer Recruitment".
learning.nspcc.org.uk/safeguarding-child-protection/safer-recruitment#article-top

Even as a volunteer, you are, in effect, being "recruited" by the school and so they should be checking things like employment history and asking about gaps in time, etc. A DBS does not cover everything and, by itself, would not meet the threshold for the school to say they have carried out "Safer Recruitment".

I'm surprised that Brownies are so relaxed. I've volunteered at a similar organisation for the last 17 years and had to provide references when I became a leader there despite growing up as a child in the organisation. I'd question whether their relaxed practice is correct with regards to safeguarding the children.

It’s similar in my kids school, it’s really putting people off and they can’t get enough volunteers.

The thing is, I wonder if schools would really want volunteers who can't be arsed to provide a bit of basic information and fill in a form. Volunteers like that are probably more trouble than they're worth.

It’s not a basic bit of information though. It’s the same sort of information that would be required for a paid job. I’ve filled in those forms and they take ages. Then there are interviews etc, just as you would expect for a salaried role.

I school volunteered in the late 90s/00's we had to fill In a form wasn't quite as extensive but more of a who are you ,what do you like doing how many hours etc. We didn't need references though but there was an informal interview .

Ah that's such a pain - you're only trying to help! It totally puts people off. Flip side unfortunately though is if they don't and sonething goes wrong

Don't be so silly @MrsBennetsPoorNerves

I still don't see an issue with it, personally.

Working in a school is a role with some responsibility, whether paid or not. Of course there needs to be a proper selection/screening procedure.

Volunteers who think they're doing people a massive favour just by turning up are actually pretty unhelpful. You need people with commitment, who are willing to take it seriously.

It’s not that I ‘can’t be bothered’ to share information, I am on a career break and thought during that time off I could help out at my children’s school - It would mean asking my previous employer plus one other person for a reference and then again when I’m looking for employment again. The application form is also the exact same as the job application forms at the school.

The school does not ask for this information for volunteers on school trips (for which I have done many times) - including ones to the swimming lessons. I just wanted to ask if this was the norm, not to be judged.

You are being recruited to work with vulnerable people in a position of trust. There will be an application for, references, an "interview" as well as training on "Keeping Children Safe in Education."

The school has a responsibility to safeguard their pupils and ensure that you are not something trying to take advantage of potentially relaxed volunteer recruitment in order to gain access to children.

If doing their duty to ensure the wellbeing of their children means that they get fewer, or even no, volunteers so be it. Better no volunteers than the wrong or dangerous volunteers.

Why is it silly?

I've managed volunteers previously, albeit not in a school context. The ones who don't regard it as a proper responsibility are generally more trouble than they're worth, and it's helpful to have procedures in place to weed out the people who can't really be arsed. Far better to have a few really good volunteers than an army of flaky ones.

As a serial volunteer myself, I have always been more than happy to comply with standard selection procedures, and if the volunteering involved working with children in any capacity, then of course, I would expect standard safeguarding measures to be in place.

I'm not judging you in the slightest - you haven't even said whether or not you're intending to fill in the form, so how could I?

I am just explaining why schools might have this procedure in place. Lots of organisations that use volunteers have a job-style application process.

I volunteer in school weekly, just needed a DBS check. This was only this year too.

Then the school is going to come unstuck at their next safeguarding audit / inspection. That would be highlighted as poor practice.

So not only do you think it's ok to discourage volunteers. You actually want to enforce that other organisations are forced to treat volunteers a bit shit too.

Despairs.

Yes indeed. Aren't they automatically rated inadequate if they are deemed to be failing with regard to safeguarding? Not a risk that many schools would want to take, I'm sure.

Volunteers worth having will understand that schools have to have appropriate measures in place to keep the children safe, and they will be happy to comply with those measures. Volunteers who think such measures are OTT are probably superfluous to requirements.

DBS covers all of that, or at least the enhanced one does. I've just done mine.

They aren't treating volunteers "a bit shit". They are safeguarding their children against those who would volunteer in order to gain access to kids or be introduced as a trusted adult. All organisations that work with children should be taking that legal responsibility seriously and, if they aren't, they should be pulled up on it.

It's far too late to say "Oh, we should have checked," after the worst has already happened.

I would absolutely want to discourage volunteers who don't understand or value the importance of proper safeguarding measures. And I would want all organisations working with children to do that, yes. The safety of children is more important than the convenience of the volunteer.