DFES Recommended Checks

[NuttySupplier]

This webpage has information for schools/agencies/LEAs but I think it's quite an interesting read... are you aware of these checks being
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e on yourself? Are there schools etc. not adhering to this?


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I, for one, have worked in schools who have been blissfully unaware of any ECRB checks on me!

[Anthony Woolgar]

The checks cannot be
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e without your permission first! When a CRB check has been completed you will be informed of the result and be issued with a certificate, as will the institution who requested the check.
Schools will be held to be negligent if they do not ensure that anyone they employ has cleared all the required checks.
If you visit
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you will find a list of all the required documents on the first registration page.
If you are a tutor and want a CRB clearance certificate, in case parents/students ask for one, you just go to your local police station and fill out a form, hand over a fee and in a few weeks or months you will get your certificate.

[NuttySupplier]

Hi Anthony!

It's fascinating what actually goes on... I've work in 13 schools in my area on supply. I haven't worked through an agency, just given them a CV, and been called in.

Only one has ever asked to see a check! I didn't have one, well, mine was over five years old and 300 miles away (btw, I've never seen a
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y of one ever!) I told them which schools I had worked in already (could have
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e this up!) and they accepted me anyway.

This prompted me to get myself one. The school suggested going to the local Police Station. The WPC on duty couldn't help, but got someone to call me later in the day. They gave me the number of the CRB in London and told me to call them. They said I needed x, y and z, none of which I had. I just had the money ready to pay. They were asking for codes from the school etc. They said you can't get one done on yourself.

I went back to the school, and another, asking if they could help with this stuff I needed, they said not to bother!

12 months on, I've got a temp. contract with an LEA school, so a CRB check has been asked for by the LEA, though I'm already a term in and haven't received it yet!

Joke isn't it?

[Anthony Woolgar]

That is actually appalling! See the article in the news today about someone on the sex offenders list being appointed at a school? I think your comments should be sent to the press!
I've been taken on by agencies who have said they had applied for the check for me but I never did receive a
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y! This means that they didn't apply! Only one agency I've been with followed the correct procedures!
My new website: supplyateacher.com tried to enlighten tutors, schools and parents but it seems that most don't care, despite past happenings! We've taken down the requirement of compulsory documentation presentation and now leave it entirely up to schools to fulfil their statutory duty and check documents!
I've legal training and am very interested in this area. It seems that schools need educating!

[Anthony Woolgar]

Thanks for the info about not being able to apply for a CRB if self-employed etc. I've checked again and that is, now, the case! So that forces people to work through agencies or via LEAs!! No wonder the system is a mess!

[NuttySupplier]

It really is a mess... as a supply teacher, not working through agencies at all, I have no way of getting a check!

So how can I work?! (I do, obviously...)

The CRB told me to find a school willing to get me a check done, in return for a contribution to their Christmas fund, or anything like that, to cover cost/administration. Madness,
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advice too!

No school was interested in helping me. They just said 'oh, you're fine!' I could have been anyone! They'd not even called previous employers etc., no time when there's a class of 34 screaming Y6s and I'm the only one available. So after one good day there, they'll call me back again not even thinking of getting references or anything.

Fortunately I've got this contract now, so should be ok from now on, it'd be handy to show parents of kids I tutor too.

Hmm. Also, instead of saying the certificates are 'good' for 3 years, the government have now realised that they are out of date as soon as they are issued! Duh! They have also decreed, because of that realisation, that they are not now generally transferable! So very little point in going out of your way now to get one, actually! If you read the blurb it seems obvious they have got themselves in a mess and don't know what the certificates really are for!
The only use for the certificates, I think, is to broadly check someone who has moved jobs or who hasn't worked for a while.
Your comment about references is more worrying as they are a far better indicator, aren't they?
It's just a revenue generator, giving false security in my opinion!
The LEA you are employed with should have at least done an emergency check; I just can't believe they haven't bothered! You've certainly opened my eyes!

[Anthony Woolgar]

With all the crap that has been on the news recently, and with what you say, it seems that even head teachers paid £70 000+ a year have no idea of their obligations!