Volunteers In Pre-school

[Guest]

Hi All

 

Would like some advice please - a lady from our local community would like to volunteer to come in and help - she has no child care experience and is not enrolled on any relevant child qualification course - I do not want to deter her from coming into help, ie read stories etc, however, it does concern me as I feel I would have to monitor her with the children - I would obviously apply for a police check and gain references before she came into help. The reason I say this is we recently had a lady on a placement with us whilst studying for the Foundation Stage Degree, when a little boy wanted to put on a dress, she said "no" boys don't put on dresses" I obviously spoke to her tactfully about gender, but she said "i think that is wrong, and that is my view". -

 

Am I looking into this a bit too much

 

Any advice from all you "bright" people out there will be gratefully received !!!! Dot

[Guest]

At our setting we interview all volunteers who want a placement for a course, with a similar interview process as for staff. We have never had a volunteer who just wanted to do it for its own sake but I too would be reluctant to turn then down, but very cautious. As you say obviously you would take up references and CRB check. As well as that could you do some form of induction training in which you run through policies as well as routines and procedures as a requirement of her volunteering? This might help you to identify any potential issues before they arose in a situation like you describe, and deal with them by way of education or cancel the position. You could always dress it up as required by Ofsted or the local authority - we tell all sorts of little white lies like that when we don't want to offend but want to get a point across

[Michelle9]

Hi there,

Im a Manager of a Private Nursery and I have just took one of my very good male friends on as a volunteer! He is an electrician but on his days off wanted to do something rewarding and come in and help.

So, he completed all the relevant paperwork and I have had him in the setting 3 times at a couple of hours at a time before he starts properly, so that I can induct him properly. As part of that I explained Equal Opps, behaviour management and issued him with our policies. I am quite lucky as he takes it all in.

I don't know if you do anything similar but I try to give them as much info. as possible, I probably bombard people with too much info. but I would rather people know than be left out in the cold.

 

Mich

[emmajess]

From the position of a reception class teacher who is desperately dragging parents in off the street to come and help with a very lively class of 30 I would say have her in!!! (obviously get the CRB done first!) I'm sure the situation with the other lady is a one-off and she will need to think carefully about her attitudes towards gender, equal opportunities, inclusion and discrimination before she goes much further with her career!

[Shiny]

I only wish we had volunteers, I would bite her hand off!!! Wonder if she would commute to Essex???!!!

[Guest]

Hi All

 

Thanks for feedback - great advice again, will be good to do some in-house induction as mentioned and read over our policies together so that she is clear of her role - I think the lady would quite like a job with us which sadly we do not have at the present, but it is nice to make links with the local community as well.

 

Dot

[Deb]

I think you are right to follow the correct induction/recruitment procedures including written references. We now have a volunteer induction pack, not very dissimilar from the staff one. After all, any adults the children come into contact with can leave an impression on the children in our care and we all want to ensure it's a good one. I think it would be very much easier to come to a shared understanding from the start rather than have to deal with problems later on. You never know, she might like it so much she may decide to persue it as a career!

[Guest Wolfie]

I agree with all the very good advice already given - with proper induction and communication I'm sure that your concerns will be addressed effectively and that she'll be a real asset to your group.

[Guest]

I only wish we had volunteers, I would bite her hand off!!! Wonder if she would commute to Essex???!!!

 

Hi Shiny,

 

We have a parent volunteer rota, no parent is made to feel they have to but so many love coming in for say one session a month. We have had a duty parent every session for over a year and half now, its great they get to see what their child does at pre school, plus the children love showing their parents whats what etc, all of our parents have to take a police check before they can be added to the rota, and so far everyone has been lovely.

[Rea]

Do you do a CRB for every parent who joins the rota? How many sessions do they do over a year? When I asked Ofsted what they considered 'regualr helper' they were so unclear I never bothered to check parents. They couldnt be left alone or toilet but it wasnt a problem.

[Guest]

Do you do a CRB for every parent who joins the rota? How many sessions do they do over a year? When I asked Ofsted what they considered 'regualr helper' they were so unclear I never bothered to check parents. They couldnt be left alone or toilet but it wasnt a problem.

 

Hi Rea,

 

Yes we CRB every parent helper, we were told by child care advisors that it was best practice and our comittee was happy to do it, as it defeats the object of having volunteers if you then have to monitor where they are because they are not police checked. Our parents can do as many or as little helping as they like but on the whole they individually do 2, 3 sessions a term. What has been good though is the range of different skills each has, we have two dads who volunteer as well one is an IT consultant and one a fireman. We have a paramedic, architech and district nurse, as well Mums who dont work.

 

To be honest now were used to having parent volunteers we couldnt manage without them.