Background Checking - Ireland

Background Checking In Ireland

In 2015, the CoderDojo Foundation made steps to ensure all Dojos in Ireland will be able to easily comply with the National Vetting Bureau Act 2012 and the Children First Bill 2014. It is a legal requirement to vet regular volunteers, youth mentors, mentors and champions in a Dojo. The acts referenced require Dojo Champions to take 2 key actions:

1. Vet all regular volunteers at the Dojo via the CoderDojo Garda eVetting process.
2. Document A Child Protection Plan:
   • This is a plan that sets out what will happen in the event that a volunteer/youth mentor/mentor/champion fails to comply with the CoderDojo Child Protection Policy.

The CoderDojo Ireland Child Protection approach is three-pronged and each of the following should be utilised in conjunction with one another;

• Child Protection Policy
• Garda eVetting
• Child Protection Awareness Courses

CoderDojo Child Protection Policy

CoderDojo has developed a Child Protection Policy along with some useful support documents, this helps Dojo's understand the importance of following Child Protection legislation. Before starting your Dojo, you are required to do the following:

Step 1. Read these Child Protection Policy Documents here:

Safeguarding Policy Documents

CoderDojo Child Protection Policy

Step 2. Adopt the CoderDojo Ireland Child Protection Policy by printing & filling out the “Confirmation of Adoption” form attached at the end of this article. Scan it back to gardavetting@coderdojo.org.

Garda Vetting Volunteers At Your Dojo

The CoderDojo Foundation process Dojo’s Garda Vetting applications centrally for verified Dojos only. A Champion can access and initiate the vetting process at a Dojo when they have completed:

Step 1: Getting their Dojo verified on Zen

Step 2: When they have signed and sent the Confirmation of "Adoption Of Child Protection Policy" to gardavetting@coderdojo.org.

Please see the CoderDojo Garda Vetting Outline for Champions attached or For more information on Garda Vetting see here: https://vetting.garda.ie/Help/FAQ 

Child Protection Awareness Resources and Courses

• Child Protection Awareness Programme: The National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI) run a Child Protection Awareness Programme (CPAP), click here for more information: here

• Educational resources: Find all the educational resources you need to facilitate Dojo sessions on our community resource platform.

• Online Training: Thorough our community platform Zen, we have e-learning modules available to help volunteers and mentors learn about safeguarding, mentoring and our ethos. Find out more about the modules and how to take them here.

• Code of Behaviour: We have created a Code of Behaviour as a safeguarding framework for all Dojo volunteers, please familiarise yourself with this available here.

Be sure to keep in touch with the community, by joining our global Slack channel or starting a discussion in our Community Forums.