Helping in School
Ottershaw schools are fully committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children & young people.
We value parents contribution to the children's learning by offering their help in school. This may be with listening to children read, cooking, art and craft work, helping run the school library or helping on day trips and activities.
Regular Volunteers
In order to help in school on a regular basis - this must be at least once every 3 months, it is necessary to complete a DBS - Disclosure & Baring Service check. This can be done through the Strictly Education DBS Portal. Please contact the school offices for further information. There is a fee of £10.00 to process a volunteer application. Once you have completed a DBS application, we would encourage you to register with the DBS Update Service which is free to volunteers. Please note your DBS will cover you for volunteering at both the infant and junior school.
DBS Filtering Rule
From 28 November 2020, the filtering rules for Standard and Enhanced DBS checks changed. These changes are the result of a Supreme Court Judgment which identified that some elements of the existing filtering rules were disproportionate. Legislation has been changed, and from 28 November 2020, DBS certificates will disclose criminal records according to this new legislation.
This means that the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) will no longer disclose youth reprimands, youth warnings, or youth cautions. They will also no longer automatically disclose all convictions where an individual has more than one conviction – instead, each individual conviction will be assessed against the appropriate rules.
Further information can be found here.
This flowchart helps to explain what candidates should disclose.
Candidates and employees can obtain independent advice on this matter from organisations such as Unlock and NACRO.
Policies and Documents for Volunteers:
Keeping Children Safe in Education (Part 1)
Allegations of Abuse Against Adults Policy
Visitors Policy and Visiting Speakers Agreement