Can Committee Members Be Volunteers

[Guest MaryEMac]

Not sure if in right place but here goes. We have a mum at playgroup who is thinking about a career change and wants to do the CPP. So she will need to be involved in a setting to do this. I was already a little concerned as she suffers with back trouble and her volunteer times will be for the same time that her child is at the setting. Also we have just had a playgroup meeting where the treasurers post was discussed, as the treasurer has gone back to teaching and can't manage both. This mum has expressed an interest in the position and tonight she was voted on as treasurer.

My question is:- If she is on the committee as treasurer, can she be a volunteer at the playgroup? I've got a feeling that she can as long as she isn't being paid. Please can someone put me right?

 

Thank you

 

Mary

[Rea]

I presume she wants to volunteer as part of her CPP, in which case she wont really be a volunteer, the playgroup will be offering her a palcement so she can train. If she's going to be there at the same time as her child you might want to discuss her role, i.e. will she tell her own child off, will she toilet her own child?

I trained while my son was at playgroup, we managed but it can be a bit difficult to see your child told off by someone else for something, so make sure the lines are understood.

If her back probelm is going to be a cause for concern, ensure she knows exactly what the role entails, setting up, putting away, and that she understands your H&S and any risk assessment policies. Does she need to attend every session while she's training?

There isnt a problem with her being a committee member and a volunteer anyway. I do both when needed. Its how playgroups were built

[Guest]

Not sure if in right place but here goes. We have a mum at playgroup who is thinking about a career change and wants to do the CPP. So she will need to be involved in a setting to do this. I was already a little concerned as she suffers with back trouble and her volunteer times will be for the same time that her child is at the setting. Also we have just had a playgroup meeting where the treasurers post was discussed, as the treasurer has gone back to teaching and can't manage both. This mum has expressed an interest in the position and tonight she was voted on as treasurer.

My question is:- If she is on the committee as treasurer, can she be a volunteer at the playgroup? I've got a feeling that she can as long as she isn't being paid. Please can someone put me right?

 

Thank you

 

Mary

Hi Mary,

 

I think I am right in saying that she can go for the post, at our preschool (where I am treasurer for my sins !!) we have had members of the committee working as volunteers, I think that the big problem would be any discussion of staff salaries which she would be privy to, especially as treasurer. Best to check with early years on this. Don't think there are any hard and fast rules though and probably down to your constituency .

[Inge]

As Rea said, no problem volunteering or having a placement at same place you are a committee member, that how it all started. ( I have in past asked for references on long term 'student' placements and asked for an interviews to see if they are suitable for the setting, and other checks for a suitable person for Ofsted. She would have CRB as a committee member.)

 

But having own child there can cause problems in lots of areas, but this does depend on the child.

 

I too trained in same setting as my son but i was lucky he ignored me totally and did not come to me for anything, and any or help he needed discipline he did not come 'running to mum ' to get him out of his predicament, But i have seen this happen lots of times over the years and it causes the biggest upsets in the group , a case of mum leaving someone else deal with her child - hard for all, mum, child and staff.

 

Inge

[HappyMaz]

I always made it my policy to let another member of staff deal with any unwanted behaviour on my son's part when I was at pre-school. And (most of the time) what happened at pre-school stayed at pre-school. Obviously if there were real problems then I would have spoken to my son about it just as any other parent would. Thankfully, it didn't arise (well not at pre-school, anyway )

 

I think doing a placement at the setting where your own children attend/have attended is great for building up a team that has a strong emotional attachment to the group. As Rea said, parent volunteering is where the pre-school movement began 40-odd years ago and for many groups volunteer power is what keeps groups afloat. So the issues about working alongside your own children are not new, but these arrangements need a lot of honesty, clear boundaries and good communication to work.

 

With regard to this person's bad back, I'm not really au fait with the disability discrimination legislation but I wonder if there is an issue here about taking necessary steps to ensure that employees with a known health issue. I think it would be wise to carry out a proper risk assessment (like you do when a member of staff is pregnant) and make clear decisions together about what the member of staff can and can't physically do during the session. I think its about making reasonable adaptations so that no-one's health is compromised and providing true equality of opportunity for all employees.

 

Maz