Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. You must have a valid authorisation card from your provider (valid three years) You must have it on you whenever you are on school premises – wear it as a name badge. Ours is designed to double up as a name badge which is also requirement for all SRE teachers to wear.

Our forms are currently online and must be filled out at the time of initial authorisation and then every three years when you apply to be reauthorised. At the time of reauthorisation you must ensure all your training is up to date. Please check our information pack for returning teachers for details here.

Introduced by the NSW Government in 2013 for ALL people interacting with children/youth.
All existing Volunteer SRE teachers (including helpers) and paid SRE teachers must have a WWCC number before they are allowed to go into a school. You only need one number so if you already have one for church, school, tutoring etc. it will fine to use that number.
It is an on-line application. SRE teachers are listed under ‘religious services’ in the child related sector. There is no cost for volunteers. There is a fee for those who are in any child/youth related paid roles.
See http://www.kidsguardian.nsw.gov.au/child-safe-organisations/working-with-children-check for more details. We will verify your WWCC number before issuing you with an Authorisation card (Green Card). You must have completed the full process i.e. had your application and identification confirmed by the Roads

Your form is valid for as long as your card (will be for three years with either a ‘30/04/20XX or 30/09/20XX). You are responsible take note of the expiry date. We will keep records and contact you to send a reminder using the email address you give us. It is your responsibility to let us know if you change churches, schools and/or any other contact details. You will be asked to sign a new form if additional requirements are introduced. We have chosen to use the 30th April date so that your card is valid till the end of first term (or third term) so don’t have to deal with a mad rush to get new cards ready for the beginning of the year.

The Department of Education do not distinguish between teachers and helpers so all must complete at least three compulsory modules, 1,4 & 7, the Safe Church training; have a Working With Children Check number and complete the online application form. Cards issued will appear the same as for teachers. We keep record of the distinction on our database. Helpers must be in the presence of an Authorised SRE teacher at all times.

You need to check our current information pack on our website https://nswactbaptists.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Current-SRE-Teacher-Info-Pack-2020-1.pdf and contact our office to confirm what needs to be updated with regards to training and relevant updates

(If you are with another denomination then you will need to contact them to check on their process). It would be helpful to check if others from your church also need new cards so we can do cards for your whole team together.

Yes. Your pastor will need to sign your authorisation form and will need to interview you so they can confidently sign to say that you are competent to represent them in the school.

Authorisation cards are issued when your SRE teacher Engagement Form is received. If you’ve applied online and your church has not received your card please email the SRE team at sre@nswactbaptists.org.au or phone 9868 9239 to follow it up.

Where there is no pastor, an elected office bearer of the church such as the Secretary or Treasurer may sign the forms.

Yes, everyone who goes into schools under SRE has to be authorised and completed training. Another member of the pastoral team or an elected office bearer of the church may sign the pastor’s form. A pastor’s authorisation card must also be signed by a second person. No one may do SRE as an individual, only as a representative of the churches.

It’s the law that teachers sign to say they meet child protection and Department of Education requirements, and be authorised for SRE by an Approved Provider. The Association of Baptist Churches of NSW. In recent times the Department of Education has started running audits on schools and providers to ensure all people entering a school are authorised to be there.

There has been some confusion as to where SRE teachers fit into the school’s practice of checking WWCC numbers. Principals have been informed that it is the responsibility of the SRE Provider to verify the WWCC number so schools do not need to do it. If you feel it creates a tension to not give the number then it’s up to you to decide if you want to give it to them or not. If you give your details then they are required to verify the number and you should request confirmation that the WWCC has been verified.

The Department of Education requires all people without a WWCC number to sign a Contractor’s Form. As we have deemed that not to be appropriate for Under 18’s we (The Baptist Association) have negotiated with the Department of Education to approve a separate form for under 18’s to sign (in conjunction with their parent and/or school). Part of this agreement is that the Under 18 year old is not permitted to be responsible for a class on their own and must have an authorised SRE teacher (over 18) present with them at all times.

If a Baptist pastor/minister is comfortable signing off for someone from another local (non ‘Approved Provider’ status) church, who fulfils all our requirements, we will honour that. However no pastor/minister/leader is to feel compelled they have to do that. They must be comfortable with the arrangement. We also request that the pastor of the independent church co-sign any paperwork and keep a copy.

Approved Providers, such as the Association of Baptist Churches in NSW & ACT (Baptist Union of NSW), now have to give an assurance to the government that all teachers they authorise receive ‘initial and ongoing training’. That means that to receive authorisation, two types of training is required – safe ministry training (Creating Safe Spaces) and SRE classroom training. As a member of the Inter-Church Commission of Religious Education In Schools (ICCOREIS), we have signed up to follow an agreed framework of training for all our teachers to complete. You may attend any training by a member of ICCOREIS. There are six (7) modules to be completed.

With the ongoing changes to government legislation and expectations we require people to ensure they have completed Modules 1-5 & 7 by the time they apply for reauthorisation (from 2019). If they completed training under our old DVD format Modules 1-4 must be done as a way of refresher either attending a face to face session or online. A 12 monthly observation lesson must also be completed and commit to a minimum of 2 hours additional training to show ongoing professional development. For further information please go to https://nswactbaptists.org.au/baptistsre/

Yes. To be authorised as a Baptist SRE teacher you need to do Creating Safe Churches or a recognised SCTA endorsed course every three years. The latest training calendar for the Baptist training is available
from https://creatingsafespaces.org.au/events/ This needs to completed every three years. It is completed in two stages- an online course then face to face. In order to receive authorisation both components must be completed. If at the time of reauthorisation you may still be authorised with just the online component completed provided there is a commitment to complete the face to face within 6 months. New teachers must provide proof you have completed both.
It is your responsibility to notify us when you have updated your training so we can keep our records current.

Two types of training are required to teach SRE, both very different. Child protection/safe ministry/safe spaces training is one type, practical classroom training is the other.

Yes, records are kept of training for each authorised teacher. You must complete a minimum of three compulsory modules 1,4 & 7 when first applying to teach/help in SRE before any card will be issued with a commitment to complete the rest within three months.

Face-to-face training days along with on-the-job training are undoubtedly the most effective type of training. Getting together with a professional and other teachers provides valuable opportunities to share challenges, pray, learn new skills, share your best tips and stay updated, not to mention having fun with like-minded people.
We recognise that due to distance, demands of young families, work commitments, etc. that not all folk are able to attend face to face training days so the Baptist Association has online training available based on the competencies in the ICCOREIS agreed training framework. It is our desire that at some stage all SRE teachers attend at least one face to face training day within their three year authorisation period.

After the agreed six modules are done, there needs to be ongoing training (minimum of 2 hours per year) E.g. Being observed by an experience teacher for feedback – every 12 months

Before 2013 the Department of Education and Communities had no training requirements on SRE teachers and teachers could be authorised by filling in the appropriate forms. They then could choose to go through a system of training offered by their denomination to be ‘accredited’. Now the Department requires two types of training for authorisation so authorisation and accreditation are the same.

As classroom teachers they generally don’t know the SRE guidelines or have an appreciation of the spiritual development of children. We require that all our SRE teachers do the seven modules to gain an understanding of what it means to represent your church, or combined group of churches and share their experience with other teachers. Most trained school teachers come away from the training days expressing their appreciation of the content and engagement with other SRE teachers.

Like trained teachers we ask that a pastor/ minister still completes the Module training like everyone else. SRE in a public school is a unique space that must be taught within the guidelines and legislation set out by the Department of Education. RPL (Recognition of Prior Learning) may be offered for Module 5 only. Conditions apply. Please contact our SRE Coordinator for further details.

It needs to be specific churches training. It can be done with any church that is part of the SCTA agreement. For further details please call contact our office or go to: https://www.ncca.org.au/scta/scta-members

After the agreed seven modules are done, there needs to be ongoing training (minimum of 2 hours per year) and something like a kids ministry conference could be part of that. If you would like further clarification contact our office.