Guest Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 Hey guys, Just wanted to clarify something, I attended a Safeguarding children Level 2 course today and we got onto the topic of CRB disclosures and parent helpers. We have lots of 'one off' parent helpers who have a days holiday and come in, my problem is that i always thought that if they were supervised all day and not left alone with any children at any time they didnt need a CRB check. According to the lady taking my course today who workes as a DS for the police we should have them all CRB cleared. Im Just worried that if this is the case we would never have any parent helpers? - If they offer and we tell them they need to complete a form and it can take 8 weeks i cant see anyone coming in, many of them let us know short notice if they have some unexpected free time. Just wanted to see what other people thought? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrsbat Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 I emailed ofsted today to clarify this very subject as I was unsure, IF I get a reply I will let you know Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 Hi, I work in a Primary school but we have always been told that as long as parents are not left on their own with children then it's fine not to CRB check them. It will make things far more difficult for all of us if we have to CRB everyone helping either once or on a regular basis. Nicky Sussex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrsbat Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 Hi, I work in a Primary school but we have always been told that as long as parents are not left on their own with children then it's fine not to CRB check them. It will make things far more difficult for all of us if we have to CRB everyone helping either once or on a regular basis. Nicky Sussex oohh thinking about it, the school where my children go have to crb all parent helpers, i forgot about that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rea Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 Doesnt bode well for parents and settings working together if thats the case. Its why so many settings cant get help or even plain old parent involvement. I asked Ofsted about this a few years ago. The wording in the standards said 'regular helpers' so I wanted clarification on what they thought was regular. The answer was like a polititians, there wasnt one. It was up to each setting was the final answer, if we were happy to allow the helper in. So, it was putting the onus on us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 I suppose its not very different to when you have a new member of staff? We allow our new staff to start before clearance has come through - we pair them up with existing staff as to introduce them to the setting and kids gently, we never allow them to be alone or unsupervised with any children. She said that we should wait until all clearances are through before starting staff which would be nice ideally but i've known some clearances to take 2-3 mths depending how many police authorities you have lived in. When the new system for clearances comes in it should be better but its disappointing to think we will have to turn parent help away.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 Hi all This came up out our last committee meeting and I phoned OFSTED about it. They said that as long as the parent help was never left alone with the children then they DID NOT need to be CRB checked. I stated all about the ISA guidelines about regular contact etc and said some of our parent were actually in twice per half term and he said they still didnt need to be CRB checked as far as they were concerned. I even asked for his supervisors name to refer back to if we were challenged by it! Hope this helps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyMaz Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 I always thought that so long as parent helpers are not left unsupervised with children and did not carry out intimate care, then they do not need a CRB check. Heaven help us if we needed to get each parent CRB checked before they came through the doors - and you can just imagine the sudden long delay in getting staff checks through as the CRB companies struggled to cope with the extra workload! Maz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hali Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 all our committee members and lunch club helpers who are in regulary have crbs done - parent helpers do not as they are never left unsupervised with the children Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 Thanks that confirms what i thought I was beginning to panic! x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 Im sure you have it all sortd now but thought I would tell you what I was told by Ofsted a week ago. Parent helpers can help out as long as they are never unsupervised, the same as new staff. But im sure we will all hear different answers from different people!! XX Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyMaz Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 (edited) But im sure we will all hear different answers from different people!! ...and probably different answers from different Ofsted inspectors. That's reassuring, Laura - thanks. Maz Edited to remove evidence of my not reading posts thoroughly enough! Edited January 25, 2009 by HappyMaz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 Imagine the cost to the setting if all parent helpers had to be CRB'ed!!!! They are struggling already without the added cost! I think if you have a clear volunteers' policy/procedure on how you safeguard children when unchecked adults on on the premises it should be absolutely fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrsbat Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 Imagine the cost to the setting if all parent helpers had to be CRB'ed!!!! They are struggling already without the added cost! I think if you have a clear volunteers' policy/procedure on how you safeguard children when unchecked adults on on the premises it should be absolutely fine. I don't know if it is of any use to you or anyone else but you can get helpers and volunteers crb'd free here -> www.tmgcrb.co.uk I was crb'd through them for another job and it was done in 2 weeks, I'm in the process of getting a couple of volunteers done through them too, seems a very simple process Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynned55 Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 (edited) I don't know if it is of any use to you or anyone else but you can get helpers and volunteers crb'd free here -> www.tmgcrb.co.uk I was crb'd through them for another job and it was done in 2 weeks, I'm in the process of getting a couple of volunteers done through them too, seems a very simple process For managers and committee, you still have to go through OFSTED. For all others- staff, students, volunteers then we should all be registered with one of three agencies of which the above is one. We are registered with them, sent a students crb off to them late October and are still awaiting stuff back. So not sure if it makes much difference as the process for an ehanced CRB is the same which ever agency you go through. Edited January 26, 2009 by lynned55 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cait Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 I checked with Mr O on our last visit and he threw up his hands in horror at the prospect of getting potentially 30 more CRB's for each setting. He said parent volunteers should be done only if they are regular, ie weekly or fortnightly, otherwise not. He said that parents wouldn't be left in charge of a group of children anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 30, 2009 Share Posted January 30, 2009 Obviously depends on who you speak with..we rang the big O to check and was told that they strongly advise everyone to be crb checked including parent helpers! ridiculous! When questioned about one off helpers...they simple repeated they strongly recommend..blah blah.. We still arent going to..not if they are a one off and not a regular visitor.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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