Mangonui School is about to introduce compulsory police vetting of all parents and caregivers who take part in overnight school camps, as part of a review of its child protection policies.
Principal David Sedcole, who recently attended a course on developing child protection policies, said some major changes had been made by the new Vulnerable Children Act, including firmer procedures around reporting abuse (sexual, physical, neglect and emotional) and schools' responsibility to report suspected abuse. It also provided clear guidelines on safety checks of "core and non-core workers."
"As a result of our review, and talking to other schools, we are introducing compulsory police vetting of all parents/caregivers or volunteers who come on overnight school camps," Mr Sedcole said.
"This may seem intrusive, but we need to make sure that we are using all our tools to keep children safe when in the care of the school."
The board of trustees acknowledged that the measure could cause some offence, and might deter some parents from taking part in camps. It might also be seen as "nosy".
