to think any parentts volunteering on a regularly basis in schools should be CRB checked....

[allthreerolledintoone]

I was speaking to one of the parents from school and she has volunteered herself to help out one afternon per week. She had to ring the LEA and everything first but was told she wouldnt need to be CRB checked. We were both shocked at this and although i can see why this may be the case i almost feel that after the whole vanessa george/ian huntley case maybe anyone coming into contact with children should CRB checked.

Not all helpers need checking. If not left on own it isn't needed. And a CRB check does not prevent things going wrong, all it shows is if someone has a record.

the examples in op were probably checked and found ok. They jus5 had never been found out.

it worries me how much emphasis is given to these checks tbh.

Ian Huntley wouldn't have needed a check. Vanessa George was checked. And yet people use both these cases to argue that people should be checked? Where's the logic there?

Yes, probably. But until CRB checks are free and instantaneous, arguing that they should be is probably only pouring good money after bad.

I have volunteered to help out at a local first school, which my daughter may or may not be attending, for a few hours a week and I'm in the process of being checked.

I think it's a bad thing and a waste of time.

Some schools won't let you volunteer until your CRB comes through, which can take months. It also puts off volunteers - any kind of paperwork will put a person off volunteering.

In a school setting, the vast majority of helpers are never left alone with a child anyway. They sit in the corner of the classroom with a child, or in the library where they can be seen.

I can't think of a single helper who doesn't already have a child in that school, so we're not talking about anyone off the street volunteering, that doesn't happen.

I think it's unnecessary paperwork.

I think it's counterproductive - people will start to assume that someone is ok and can be trusted because they've been checked, rather than relying on their gut instincts.

What about sixth formers who reach 18 years old whilst still at school>>

It's a good question and demonstrates how unworkable it's become. There was a daft case a while back and I can't find the exact details now, but it went something like. "the 17 year old can't join the choir because then the whole choir will have to be CRB checked"

More and more people are saying "I was offering to do you a favour. I won't bother then"

More and more people are saying "I was offering to do you a favour. I won't bother then"

which is exactly the kind of response i'd imagine a lot of people would have.
surely it's just going to discourage community activism.

I agree with Rhubarb.
As for the mother who'd been imprisoned for theft - it wouldn't bother me at all. What's she doing exactly? Attempting to brainwash children into following her and her criminal ways? Is she some kind of Fagin-figure? Or is she perhaps just listening to children read?

I have been helping on school trips for the last couple of years along with other parents and haven't been crb checked but am now helping out a lot more around the school with Friends of the School and have been asked to complete a crb check. I don't have a problem with this and it may open other doors within the school as I have had my name put forward as a lunchtime assistant and it would save on extra paperwork for someone as I am already in the process of having a check

It won't save on paperwork though you will need another one for a paid position in school even if you have one as a volunteer in the same school.It will though cost the LEA twice for the same thing.