Volunteering & Working with Children Checks

Parent volunteers are part of what makes St Mary's a community rather than just a school — reading with Prep children, serving at the canteen, walking with a class to the pool, sorting second-hand blazers. Because the safety of children comes first, every volunteer who works with students must hold a current Working with Children Check (WWCC) and complete our short online induction before starting. This page explains how, and what you can help with.

Step 1 — Get a Working with Children Check (free)

A WWCC for volunteer purposes is free and is valid for five years. It is a Victorian Government check, not a College one.

1. Apply online through Service Victoria (search "Working with Children Check Victoria"). Choose Volunteer as the check type — there is no fee.
2. When asked for the organisation you will volunteer with, list St Mary's College, Wattle Creek, 14 Chapel Road, Wattle Creek VIC 3799, category "Educational institutions". You can add the College later through your online WWCC account if you already hold a card.
3. Verify your identity at a participating Australia Post outlet (Wattle Creek Post Office does this) or online.
4. You will receive an email confirmation, then a physical card in about two to three weeks. Bring the card or the confirmation email to the Junior or Senior Office so we can record your card number and expiry on the College volunteer register. We cannot accept you as a volunteer until this is done.

If you already hold a WWCC for employee purposes (for example through your own work), that is accepted — just add the College to your organisations and show your card to the office. Registered teachers (VIT), police and some other professions are exempt under the Act; ask at the office.

Step 2 — Complete the online induction (about 20 minutes)

Log in to the Parent Portal, go to Forms > Volunteer Induction, and work through the module. It covers:

• the College Child Safety Code of Conduct (what appropriate behaviour with students looks like, physical contact, language, one-to-one situations);
• how to report a concern about a child's safety or wellbeing and who to report it to;
• privacy — what you see and hear at school stays at school;
• practical matters: sign-in, lanyards, emergency procedures, where to go in a lockdown or evacuation.

You sign the Code of Conduct electronically at the end. The induction must be renewed each January; the Portal will prompt you. It takes most parents 15–20 minutes.

Step 3 — Sign in every time

Whenever you volunteer, sign in at the kiosk at the Junior Office or Senior Office, scanning your WWCC card or entering your name. You will be given a visitor lanyard, which must be worn and visible the whole time you are on site, and returned when you sign out. This lets us account for every adult in an emergency.

Volunteer roles

Who does not need a WWCC

You do not need a check to:

• attend assemblies, concerts, carnivals, Masses, information nights or parent–teacher conferences as a spectator or parent;
• come to a class party or celebration where the teacher is present and you are with your own child;
• drop off or collect your child, or visit the office, Uniform Shop or canteen as a customer.

You do need one, plus the induction, for any regular or one-off role where you are helping with students — even if a teacher is in the room.

Code of conduct — the short version

• You are there to support the teacher; direction of students is the teacher's job.
• Never be alone with a student out of sight of staff. Toilets, changing rooms and first aid are staff-only.
• Use your own child's name, not "mate" or nicknames, and keep physical contact to what the teacher would (a high-five is fine; lap-sitting is not).
• Do not photograph students. Do not share what you see or hear about other children, families or staff, including on social media.
• If a child tells you something that worries you, or you see something concerning, tell the teacher or a member of the leadership team straight away — you do not have to decide whether it is serious.

Full details are in the Volunteers & Visitors Policy and the Child Safety Policy. Questions about the volunteer register can be directed to the College Office; questions about child safety to Mrs Siobhan Reilly, Deputy Principal – Wellbeing & Mission.