Is a parent allowed to ' help out ' at nursery due to staff absence ?

[Jennalong]

Just the above really , should other parents be informed , should all ' helpers have been checked out initially ( didn't it used to be dps checked or whatever it is now ? ) Thoughts please ?

Should add paid nursery birth to school age .

If not qualified I think they can't be included in the ratios.

I don't see why other parents should be informed.

If this is an ongoing thing I'd expect them to be DBS checked, but as a one off and not being alone with any child then maybe not.

Parent helpers on trips don't need checking after all.

If it's someone who has helped out on trips any things they will probably (not definitely) have a DBS check. Do you have specific concerns?

One of the tests for whether a DBS check is needed is regularity - in general terms if it's a one-off, then it's not needed. But parents helping in this way would be advised not to do things like change nappies or be on their own with children.

At the pre-school where my kids went we had a rota of parents so there was usually two parents in every day, helping out and doing things like making the snack, clearing it up and assisting the playleaders with activities.

A mother has been asked to help for the day as they are a member of staff down . She is a health care worker ( so probably has a DBS ) but just wondered if it happened elsewhere ?

I think it means her own child can be taken out of the numbers for calculating the staff/child ratio, which may, if they are very slightly under, make the difference they need. Otherwise I don't think it counts to reduce ratios

My son’s preschool occasionally asked for parent help on a few afternoons to help with ratios or otherwise they’d have to shut early. Maybe three times in two years. This was whether their child was in or not, so I don’t think it just meant their child didn’t have to count in ratios. But I know from a previous thread about parents being in nurseries many people were vehemently against it.

Thanks for your answers.