St. Mary's Primary School is committed to providing a safe and nurturing culture for all our students. In adherence to the Victorian Government Child Safe Standards, we have a range of resources, policies, and procedures to support us in doing this.
The purpose of this procedure is to outline the steps required to be a volunteer at St Mary’s Primary School. The Childsafe Standards require schools to gather, verify and record a person’s history of work involving children. St Mary’s takes child safety very seriously and for this reason, potential volunteers are required to list their entire work history, including any volunteer work, involving children.
Procedure
Step 1. Locate the Volunteer Application form on the website or collect from the St Mary’s Administration Office. Complete the Application form and send into school.
Step 2. It is the St Mary’s practice to interview potential volunteers prior to commencing any voluntary work. The interview is an informal discussion to assess suitability for the child-connected work. This is also an opportunity for the potential volunteer to ask any questions about the role and any general questions about the school.
Step 3. Due to taking Childsafe seriously we make it a practice to conduct referee checks for potential volunteers to assess their suitability to work with children. The referee check is a discussion between the school and the nominated referee for the purpose of addressing the potential volunteer’s suitability for volunteer work and engaging in child-connected work.
Step 4. All volunteers at St Mary’s are required to apply for and be granted a Working with Children Check (WWCC).
Step 5. Volunteers are required to undertake an induction to the workplace as a supportive way of introducing processes at school. The induction is an opportunity to communicate the school ethos, policies and procedures and to various role descriptions.
Step 6. Volunteers are required to read, understand and sign the Code of Conduct each year of volunteering.