VOLUNTEERING AT ST MARGARET’S
St Margaret’s Anglican Girls School acknowledges the important work that volunteers carry out within our school environment. Assistance, whether it is as a volunteer in the classroom, tuckshop, excursions, P&F activities or sporting carnivals, enhances the quality of your child’s teaching and learning experience.
To keep our students safe and comply with student protection and Work Health and Safety legislation, there are some requirements that must be addressed prior to commencing in a volunteering role.
On 31 August 2020 the Queensland Government made changes to strengthen and streamline the blue card system. The information provided below explains what this means for parents and non-parents volunteering within our school community.
PARENT VOLUNTEERS:
Parent volunteers, except for ‘restricted persons’ (see below), are still able to volunteer at St Margaret’s without a blue card.
However, parent volunteers who provide home stay accommodation organised by the school may require a blue card. The organising staff member will advise you if a blue card is required.
Under the new changes, any parent who is a ‘restricted person’ is not able to volunteer within the school in any capacity. A ‘restricted person’ is a person who either:
- has been issued a negative notice
- has a suspended blue card
- is a disqualified person
- has been charged with a disqualifying offence that has not been finalised.
NON-PARENT VOLUNTEERS:
Volunteers who are not parents of current students may not commence or continue in child-related activities unless they hold a valid blue card. This includes grandparents of current students.
If a non-parent volunteer already has a valid blue card through another employer/organisation, their blue card will need to be linked to the School before they can commence volunteering.
Blue cards expire three years from the date of issue and must be renewed prior to expiry to ensure continued validity. If a blue card is not renewed prior to its expiry date, the ‘No Card, No Start’ policy applies, and the volunteer will not be able to continue volunteering until their new blue card is received.
For more information about these changes to Queensland’s blue card system, visit the Blue Card Services website https://www.qld.gov.au/about/newsroom/changes-to-the-blue-card-system
To obtain a Blue Card, please visit: https://www.qld.gov.au/law/laws-regulated-industries-and-accountability/queensland-laws-and-regulations/regulated-industries-and-licensing/blue-card/applications/apply.
If you require assistance with this process, please contact our Administration Officer - Compliance on bluecard@stmargarets.qld.edu.au.
WHAT TO DO NEXT:
All volunteers must be registered with the school. This is done by completing the online Volunteer Register form. By completing the online register form, you are stating that you have read, understood and accept the information provided and that you understand your reporting responsibilities as a volunteer. The school will record your name on the School's Employee and Volunteer Register.
All volunteers are required to complete the Volunteer Register form before commencing their volunteering engagement. Once you have commenced the form you cannot save or leave the page, it must be completed in its entirety. The form should only take approximately 10-15 minutes to complete.
Click here to access the Volunteer Register
Once registered as a volunteer, every time you visit St Margaret’s to work as a volunteer, you must report to either the primary or main reception to record your name, time of arrival/departure and indicate that you are a registered volunteer within the school.
For more information please contact:
Karen Gorrie – Deputy Principal on kgorrie@stmargarets.qld.edu.au
Angela Drysdale – Head of Primary School on adrysdale@stmargarets.qld.edu.au
Leah Saul – Business Manager SSA on lsaul@ssa.qld.edu.au
If you are no longer volunteering at the school please email bluecard@stmargarets.qld.edu.au and you will be removed from the register.
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