Why does this matter?
Following Jesus involves speaking and modeling the truth about him. There is no more important way to do this than with our kids on Sunday mornings.
Those involved in Sunday Kids Ministry ought to be mature Christians, willing to love and be real-life examples of what it means to follow Jesus. Everyone serving in this ministry must comply with the requirements of our Child Protection Policy.
Pre-K Teacher: Teaches using lesson plan provided by the coordinators. involving and training the Assistant, as appropriate to their experience and gifts.
Pre-K Assistant: Assists the teacher. You can start in this role without much training or experience and we will equip you with on the job training and offline input.
K-6 Teacher: Teaches using lesson plan provided by the coordinators. involving and training the Assistant, as appropriate to their experience and gifts.
K-6 Assistant: Assists the teacher. You can start in this role without much training or experience and we will equip you with on the job training and offline input.
Year 7-8 Mentor: Teaches the Year 7-8 group. See the Job Description for High School Mentoring for more on this role.
Co-ordinators: Work behind the scenes to facilitate kids’ ministry.
Pre-K and K-6 Teacher. What is Involved?
Before Sunday
- Prepare using the lesson planning material provided by the Kids Church Co-ordinator.
- Pray for the children and your assistant.
On Sunday
- Arrive by 10am to set up the room, and any craft or activities required. Give the assistant a brief summary of the big idea of the lesson plan and ways the assistant can be involved in each activity. Pray for the children and each other.
- Children are dropped off from 1015am. See ‘What to Expect on Sunday‘ for drop off and pick up procedures.
- Don’t be alone with a child. If the assistant is running late, ask a parent to stay until the assistant arrives.
- Teachers should check in Elvanto so that they are aware of any children with allergies or special needs.*
- Teachers should ask first-time parents about allergies and other issues and pass this information to the Kids Church Coordinator who will ensure this information is added into Elvanto. Where there no allergies or special needs this will be indicated by “N/A”. This means that for any child where this field is blank, parents should be asked for this information.*
- Text the parent if a child is distressed or unmanageable and ask them to pick up their child.*
- Text the coordinator about urgent problems/injuries that you need help with during the session.
* (Your Home Page in Elvanto has a teacher only area with links to the mobile numbers of parents and allergy info.)
At the end of the lesson
- Wait for parents to collect their children. Text the co-ordinator if parents do not pick up promptly.
- Clean up the Kids Church area. In line with COVID guidelines, Wipe down all books, balls, equipment and toys. Toys that cannot be cleaned and sanitized should not be used. (e.g. Play doh).
- Let the coordinator know about craft resources that need replenishing.
- Tell the coordinator about any problems you encountered or suggestions to improve processes
Pre-K and K-6 Assistant. What is Involved?
Before Sunday
- Pray for the children and other teachers.
- Have the mobile number of the coordinator on duty in your phone in case you encounter issues during the lesson.
On Sunday
- Arrive at 10am to help set up the room, and any craft or activities required.
- Be ready to help with activities, and follow the requests of the teacher.
- Children are dropped off from 1015am. Don’t be alone with a child. If the teacher is running late, let the coordinator know. See ‘What to Expect on Sunday‘ for drop off and pick up procedures.
At the end of the lesson
- Help bring the children into church for the final song.
- Wait for parents to collect their children. Text the co-ordinator if parents do not pick up promptly.
- Clean up the Kids Church area.
- Let the teacher know about craft resources that need replenishing.
Instructions regarding the supervision of children using toilets
At Scots, there are toilets on the ground floor, mezzanine and basement levels.
Parents are asked to take their child to the toilet before Kids Church starts. During Kids Church, pre-K kids church teachers/assistants will text the parents and/or coordinator for the parents to collect their children for toileting.
Pre-K teachers/assistants do not change nappies or assist children to use toilets; parents are responsible for toileting Pre-K children.
Outside of Kids Church time, parents are responsible for the supervision of their child’s use of the toilets.
What if I can’t serve in my rostered role on a particular Sunday?
Who is the Coordinator on this Sunday?
Who are the Kids Church coordinators?
The Coordinator team works behind the scenes to resource and co-ordinate this ministry. One Coordinator will be rostered on each week (look in Elvanto) to deal with drop-out and on-the-day issues.
- Meet once a term (minimum) to coordinate the team responsibilities, and evaluate Sunday Kids Ministry.
- For school holidays, check with parents in advance to assess whether a class is viable/necessary.
- Recruit new teachers and assistants, in consultation with the minister.
- Organize training for teachers and assistants as required.
- Liaise with the Child Protection Administrator (Craig) to ensure that all relevant volunteers are BTS compliant.
- Ensure new teachers have the Teacher Access Permission set by an administrator in order to access Allergy info and Parental contacts.
- The Co-ordinators do not necessarily teach or write curriculum.
- Manage and replenish kids church resources and storage..
Kids Church Co-ordinator on duty each Sunday
- Monitor and manage volunteer drop-outs in the 48 hours leading up to Sunday when you are on-duty using Elvanto.
- From 10am, be available on site as the point of contact for the teacher and assistant, plus regular and visiting parents.
- Know where the first aid kit is in the kitchen.
- Text the K-6 teacher when church is about to finish ..
- Check that the kids’ church area is tidy as you leave.
- Know our BTS policy for child protection issues and complaints as you may be the first point of contact when a concern is raised.
- In the case of a fire or evacuation liaise with the Fire Wardens to check that people in kids church have been accounted for.
Lesson materials and schedule:
Please refer to the Kids Church section in the front page of your elvanto member area.