All of the school’s ongoing volunteers must receive the Responding to Abuse and Neglect – Education and Care (RAN-EC) induction session for volunteers. This includes people on a governing council.  At the end of this post is how to access the online training. Please note that ‘plink’ is the name of the site where DECD links to all of their training programs.

Why volunteers must receive the RAN-EC induction

Volunteers who work with children (under 18 years) are mandated notifiers. They must understand notification and reporting child abuse requirements.  The Department is required to ensure that this is complied with and so we must arrange for all ongoing volunteers to receive training at the earliest opportunity.  Volunteers with existing RAN training are already compliant and do not need to redo the training.

What is meant by an ongoing volunteer

An ongoing volunteer can be someone who helps on a regular or irregular basis. This might mean:

  • once a week
  • once a fortnight
  • every day for a term
  • once a term
  • whenever they can fit it in around other commitments.

What volunteers will receive

Volunteers will receive either a face-to-face or online RAN-EC induction.

During a face-to-face session, volunteers will be given a copy of:

  • RAN-EC induction for volunteers handbook
  • Protective practices: guidelines for staff working or volunteering in education and care settings

The online session includes links to these resources.

For both types of sessions, a certificate of participation is provided when complete. The certificate is transferrable across sites. For online sessions, the site leader must sign the certificate to endorse the volunteer’s participation.

Online session

Volunteers must speak to a DECD site leader before they start the online course.

The RAN-EC online induction session for volunteers takes about 90 minutes and includes an assessment.

This online session is not site-specific, so volunteers who do this online are given the name of their nominated site leader as well as any site-specific child protection information.

Face-to-face session

If the school chooses to run a face-to-face session this will be advertised in the School NewsBlog.  These will generally be offered in the evening.  Please note that online sessions may be more easily accessed by volunteers as they can be completed in one’s own time.

Name of a nominated site leader

Volunteers will be given the name of the site leaders who can offer advice and support about any child protection or wellbeing concerns. This is referred to as a ‘nominated site leader’. This must be the leadership team at Woodend Primary School.

What happens if a volunteer changes sites

If a volunteer starts at a new site or helps at multiple sites, the session does not need to be done a second time.

To access RAN-EC Training:
Create a plink account (for non-DECD staff)
(Go to www.plink.sa.edu.au)

This is where people who are not employed by the Department for Education and Child Development (DECD) or Department for Child Protection (DCP) sign up to access online induction and training, including ‘Responding to Abuse and Neglect – Education and Care (RAN-EC)’.

Under ‘Select account type’:

  • If you are a volunteer, select Volunteer to access ‘Responding to Abuse and Neglect – Education and Care online induction session for volunteers’ and other volunteer induction resources.
  • If you are on a governing council, select Governing Council for access to ‘Responding to Abuse and Neglect – Education and Care online induction session for volunteers’ and other online resources.

On completion of the course, print out the certificate and take it to Kerri Bruggerman at the Woodend Primary School front office. The certificate will be signed by one of the Leadership team, a copy taken and the original returned to you to keep.  It is important to keep the certificate in a safe place in case you are asked to provide it at any time in the future.

 

If you have any questions, please contact the front office at any stage on 8322 6422.