CRB stories please?

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	Topic: CRB stories please?
Posted : 24/05/10 / Views : 2003 / Replies : 30 /
Nigel.Peever 344 posts last on: 07/02/12 send private reply	I've been working with Zip theatre for the last 17 weeks and as my CRB was just over three years old I needed it renewing, it's taken months! During that time the vile comments from teachers like "the people in the office are very worried about you!" started off as mildly irritating but really started to get me down by the end. Particularly up in Newcastle upon Tyne where there seems to be an absolute paranoia about it. However it has at last come through just in time for the end of the contract it was applied for ! I've got a few more weeks out of zip so they will see some of the worth if it. But I'm not impressed with the system that makes me feel like a paedophile in schools and a fraud to my employers, I honestly felt like I had to prove that I had actually taken the form in and wasn't just pretending. I would like to say Zip Theatre are brilliant and great to work for!

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	Reply #1
Posted : 16/05/10
AmandaFullerton 132 posts last on: 07/02/12 send private reply	I think the whole system has been overloaded since Ofsteds new regime being geared towards the 'Safeguarding of Children' since the Soham Murders and the Baby P case. I am a Secondry school Governor and we all now have to have up to date CRB checks and that is just the tip of the iceberg schools are terrified of failing their Ofsted inspections if anything to do with 'Safeguarding' is not in place. This may explain the schools attitude. Ofsted breeds fear everywhere.....and as ever with Government interferance in Schools is an over reaction.Often school for some of the vulnerable children is the only place they feel safe.

Reply #1

Posted : 16/05/10

AmandaFullerton
132 posts
last on: 07/02/12
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I think the whole system has been overloaded since Ofsteds new regime being geared towards the 'Safeguarding of Children' since the Soham Murders and the Baby P case. I am a Secondry school Governor and we all now have to have up to date CRB checks and that is just the tip of the iceberg schools are terrified of failing their Ofsted inspections if anything to do with 'Safeguarding' is not in place. This may explain the schools attitude. Ofsted breeds fear everywhere.....and as ever with Government interferance in Schools is an over reaction.Often school for some of the vulnerable children is the only place they feel safe.

	Reply #2
Posted : 16/05/10
Allan.OKeefe 710 posts last on: 07/02/12 send private reply	Makes one wonder what would happen, if one was in a Series, and a child was written in. Does that mean that the entire Cast has to have a CRB ??? What a load of 'you know what '. !!!!.

	Reply #3
Posted : 17/05/10
Alanbrent 1826 posts last on: 07/02/12 send private reply	Of course, Allan. It goes with the paranoia! But since it is now so high a profile the CRB checks are needed for anyone working with children ANYWHERE even with chaperones in place. (Which was a simple method of using Common Sense rather than putting obstacles in the way of performers working in schools). Now it seems that no-one will avoid being checked.....but if Patrick Stewart wants to do a Masterclass in his old school he will need one too!!!

Reply #3

Posted : 17/05/10

Alanbrent
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last on: 07/02/12
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Of course, Allan. It goes with the paranoia! But since it is now so high a profile the CRB checks are needed for anyone working with children ANYWHERE even with chaperones in place. (Which was a simple method of using Common Sense rather than putting obstacles in the way of performers working in schools).
Now it seems that no-one will avoid being checked.....but if Patrick Stewart wants to do a Masterclass in his old school he will need one too!!!

	Reply #4
Posted : 17/05/10
Allan.OKeefe 710 posts last on: 07/02/12 send private reply	Patrick would love that ... I don't think. Did a Series with Patrick, wayback, for BBC 2 ... nice lad to work with. As for CRB checks ... way beneath him, old sport.

	Reply #5
Posted : 18/05/10
franscan 5 posts last on: 07/02/12 send private reply	Well here's something to think about which makes a total mockery of the CRB system. I have checked this and it's 100% true. If you work for a company and you work with children, you MUST, by law have a CRB cetificate. If you decide to teach children privately from your home, you don't need a CRB check. Now make sense out of that one.

	Reply #6
Posted : 18/05/10
LENNIE.NOVA 24 posts last on: 01/02/12 send private reply	I agree with your comments. The paranoia has replaced common sense, very much like all the 'Health and Safety regulations'. And what about the misinterpreted information regarding taking photos or videos where children are involved.... It usually is a case of the blind leading the blind, and following others like sheep, without checking things up oneself. What a society this is turning out to be!!!!

Reply #6

Posted : 18/05/10

LENNIE.NOVA
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last on: 01/02/12
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I agree with your comments. The paranoia has replaced common sense, very much like all the 'Health and Safety regulations'. And what about the misinterpreted information regarding taking photos or videos where children are involved.... It usually is a case of the blind leading the blind, and following others like sheep, without checking things up oneself. What a society this is turning out to be!!!!

	Reply #7
Posted : 18/05/10
franscan 5 posts last on: 07/02/12 send private reply	I know. Whatever happened to social responsibility. I'm in a show at the moment where we have kids and during tech dress we weren't allowed to take cast pics with the child in it unless tere was a chaperone present. Kids asking for photo's to be taken with cast members and you having to think up of a way of saying no to them. It has gone mad. But where do you start to redress the balance and bring back senisibility. If someone was going to take pics of kids for reasons other than a record of a production surely they would find other means. The CRB checks have also become a big money orientated issue. Like in our profession you would have to have a check with each seperate company you work with. The I'm in one of the actors just left Oliver and was CRBed. He started on my production during te final weeks of his term in Oliver but still had to have a CRB check for this one. How crazy is that? Talk about legalised extortion.

Reply #7

Posted : 18/05/10

franscan
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last on: 07/02/12
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I know. Whatever happened to social responsibility. I'm in a show at the moment where we have kids and during tech dress we weren't allowed to take cast pics with the child in it unless tere was a chaperone present. Kids asking for photo's to be taken with cast members and you having to think up of a way of saying no to them.
It has gone mad. But where do you start to redress the balance and bring back senisibility.
If someone was going to take pics of kids for reasons other than a record of a production surely they would find other means.
The CRB checks have also become a big money orientated issue. Like in our profession you would have to have a check with each seperate company you work with. The I'm in one of the actors just left Oliver and was CRBed. He started on my production during te final weeks of his term in Oliver but still had to have a CRB check for this one. How crazy is that? Talk about legalised extortion.

	Reply #8
Posted : 18/05/10
Alanbrent 1826 posts last on: 07/02/12 send private reply	I'm in total agreement with all of the above. Why do you need a CRB for every different job? Why do you need to be checked out for each different venue? Once the police checks say you are not a paedo that surely should be that!!! No wonder the system is clogged up and running slow. AND why have Equity never addressed this issue? Laziness, lack of understanding the plight? No. They are so busy trying to win votes for the next council elections and then find that 'More Important' business takes priority. That is why I am no longer a member. Bulky Bull....and inefficient . There is no way this issue can be resolved until some real Common Sense actually ekes its way into Government.

Reply #8

Posted : 18/05/10

Alanbrent
1826 posts
last on: 07/02/12
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I'm in total agreement with all of the above. Why do you need a CRB for every different job? Why do you need to be checked out for each different venue? Once the police checks say you are not a paedo that surely should be that!!! No wonder the system is clogged up and running slow.
AND why have Equity never addressed this issue? Laziness, lack of understanding the plight? No. They are so busy trying to win votes for the next council elections and then find that 'More Important' business takes priority.
That is why I am no longer a member. Bulky Bull....and inefficient .
There is no way this issue can be resolved until some real Common Sense actually ekes its way into Government.

	Reply #9
Posted : 18/05/10
LENNIE.NOVA 24 posts last on: 01/02/12 send private reply	And talking of common sense,- where is it, when companies have to put in a warning on their coffee cups like "caution, drink is hot" for fear of someone, NOT using THEIR common sense, drinking a hot coffee, and getting their tongue burnt.Perhaps if nobody was ALLOWED to sue a company for THEIR own lack of common sense, instead of blaming it onto others, then we would have less of all the 'silly' little rules that keep popping up and are misplaced in many cases. People should take responsibility for their own actions. Regarding the CRB, they are now, apparently going to introduce a new system, called ISA, which, as I understand, should be more efficient, and more upto date.

Reply #9

Posted : 18/05/10

LENNIE.NOVA
24 posts
last on: 01/02/12
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And talking of common sense,- where is it, when companies have to put in a warning on their coffee cups like "caution, drink is hot" for fear of someone, NOT using THEIR common sense, drinking a hot coffee, and getting their tongue burnt.Perhaps if nobody was ALLOWED to sue a company for THEIR own lack of common sense, instead of blaming it onto others, then we would have less of all the 'silly' little rules that keep popping up and are misplaced in many cases. People should take responsibility for their own actions. Regarding the CRB, they are now, apparently going to introduce a new system, called ISA, which, as I understand, should be more efficient, and more upto date.

	Reply #10
Posted : 18/05/10
Tom.Rogers 1 posts last on: 24/02/11 send private reply	My favourite personal experience of the system was when I was applying for a CRB to work in a Nursery. They sent me the form with my name "Tom Rogers" and the sex of "Female" already filled in. Never met a woman called Tom in my life and found it quite insulting that they'd assumed anyone wanting to work with kids must be female! Still at least work didn't think I was a paedophile - just a transvestite.

Reply #10

Posted : 18/05/10

Tom.Rogers
1 posts
last on: 24/02/11
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My favourite personal experience of the system was when I was applying for a CRB to work in a Nursery. They sent me the form with my name "Tom Rogers" and the sex of "Female" already filled in. Never met a woman called Tom in my life and found it quite insulting that they'd assumed anyone wanting to work with kids must be female! Still at least work didn't think I was a paedophile - just a transvestite.

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