Safeguarding Information for Student Leaders
What are the Safeguarding Requirements for my Project?
If your project involves regularly working with children or young people, volunteers must complete the following checks and training:
- DBS check
- Safeguarding training
- Certificate of Conduct: If volunteers have lived outside the UK for a continuous period of 6 months or more in the past 5 years they also need to obtain a criminal record check from the country(ies) where they have lived during that period, in addition to a DBS check. We call this a Certificate of Good Conduct, but the name varies from country to country.
If your project runs one-off sessions with children and young people and will be fully supervised by an appropriate staff member from a school or community organisation, volunteers must complete the Safeguarding Essentials training but may not be required to complete a DBS check or Certificate of Good Conduct.
You must speak to the WV office to confirm requirements for your project.
The Safeguarding Processes and Deadlines
1. Volunteer Lists sent to WV office
For student-led projects, the Project Leader should collate a list of volunteer names, student ID numbers and Warwick email addresses to pass to the WV office via the Safeguarding template saved in the shared project folder. This is the 'Interested Volunteer List' - this should be saved in the
DBS - Safeguarding Updates folder. Please make sure Project Leaders details are also included on the list if they also need to complete safeguarding.
Please email volunteers@warwick.ac.uk when this has been completed to keep them up to date.
WV cannot process DBS checks for every student that has expressed an interest in your project. Project Leaders must be able to show that volunteers have demonstrate a certain level of commitment before we carry out these processes e.g. attending project training and regularly attending volunteer meetings. Please keep attendance records saved in your project folder.
DEADLINE: 2pm on Wednesday 30th October 2024 (week 5 - Term 1) - all 'Interested Volunteers Lists' MUST be completed by this date
2. Information Sent to Volunteers
Please keep in touch with the WV Office and let them know when you list of volunteers is ready.
The WV office will then send an email to each volunteer which will contain information, links and instructions on how to complete the checks and the Safeguarding Fundamentals training. We try to send this as soon as possible, but it could take up to 1 week for us to process.
These volunteers will be added to the 'Final Volunteer List for Safeguarding' you will find in the volunteering portal.
Links will be sent out to volunteers on the 'Interested Volunteer List' the week commencing the 4th November 2024 (week 6 - Term 1)
3. Volunteers Complete Checks and Training
Volunteers must complete the online DBS application form and submit their ID documents, obtain Certificates of Good Conduct if required and complete the online Safeguarding training. These processes can take place simultaneously, but must be completed by the set deadlines.
- DBS application process
- Certificate of Good Conduct application process
- Safeguarding Essentials training link is shared by the WV office
DEADLINES:
Complete Safeguarding Fundamentals Training - 10pm Wednesday 20th November 2024 (week 8 in Term 1)
Complete DBS application and submit ID documents - 10pm on Wednesday 20th November 2024 (week 8 in Term 1)
Submit completed Certificates of Good Conduct - Wednesday 8th January 2025 (week 1 Term 2)
4. Project Leader Updates
Project Leaders will have access to safeguarding updates for volunteers registered to their project. This information will include Safeguarding Training completion date and the progress and application status for DBS checks and Certificates of Good Conducts. Project Leaders will not have access to the outcome of these checks, but will be provided with a list of students who are eligible to volunteer for their project. This information will be shared in the project folder on the WV shared drive.
Warwick Volunteers will send reminders to those who still have checks or training outstanding, but we ask that Project Leaders also follow up with volunteers to ensure everything is completed by the deadlines. If you receive any queries, please pass them on to the WV office.
5. Final Volunteer List
Before volunteering activities begin, the WV office will provide student-led Project Leaders with a list of students who are eligible to volunteer for their project. This information will be shared in the project folder. Please ensure all volunteers have received their DBS certificate in the post and have this available before sessions begin. Volunteers must take the original copy of their DBS certificate (and Certificate of Good Conduct if applicable) to show the school or community partner at their first volunteering session.
Project Leader Responsibilities
The WV staff team are responsible for ensuring that a volunteer has all the necessary background checks and has completed the required training before they volunteer, but as a Project Leader your role is to work closely with the WV office to manage the progress of volunteers’ checks.
For student-led projects, it is the Project Leaders responsibility to ensure that ALL VOLUNTEERS have the required checks and training BEFORE they volunteer on the project. The WV office will provide you with a list, but, if you notice that someone who does not have all the required checks and training has volunteered you should report this to the WV office immediately!