Wednesday

• I will send out a reminder of who is on that Sunday and where you will be allocated 

Sunday  — Service 1:

• 7 am - If your serving on Service one, arrive for set up of the room that you are allocated on

• Making sure the tables have been set up with activities, colouring in, water jug has been filled up, laptops on playing music and lesson videos preloaded 

• 7:30 am - Team Rally, meet in the foyer ready to pray as all departments together. 

• 8am- Quick run through of the day with the team leader, then go to the toilet get a drink 

• 8.15am - Be in allocated rooms ready to engage with children, parents 

• 8.15-8.45am-  Free play in rooms where you engage with children and play games or activities with them to build connection and relationship 

• 9am tidy up tables get children to the mat

• 9.05-9.10am Play a game with the children 

• 9.10-9.20am Welcome, pray 2 worship songs, ensure children are engaging 

• 9.20-9.30am Watch the weeks video lesson (Make sure children are focused and watching) 

• 9.30am-9.40am Break into groups to go through questions with children from the lesson video 

• 9.40-9.55am Pray with the group then do the craft, colouring in or activity for that lesson 

• 10am Back into freeplay until parents collect children 

• 10am Reset tables and room to make sure all ready for the next service 

• Wait for the next service leaders to come and tag out if your not on a double service 

• Debrief with the team leader for that day 

Sunday  — Service 2:

• 9.50am Arrive and go into allocated room, pray with the service 2 team, give the leader on doubles break as you help with the transition of the services kids going and kids coming 

• 10-11am-  Free play in rooms where you engage with children and play games or activities with them to build connection and relationship 

• 11am tidy up tables get children to the mat

• 11.05-11.10am Play a game with the children 

• 11.10-11.20am Welcome, pray 2 worship songs, ensure children are engaging 

• 11.20-11.30am Watch the weeks video lesson (Make sure children are focused and watching) 

• 11.30am-11.40am Break into groups to go through questions with children from the lesson video 

• 11.40-11.55am Pray with the group then do the craft, colouring in or activity for that lesson 

• 12pm Back into freeplay until parents collect children 

• 12pm Reset tables and room to make sure all ready for the next service 

• 12.15pm pack down room and follow pack down list 

• 12.20pm Debrief with the team and room leader

Relationships are very key for this age group. Sitting down with the children at their level to engage in their play with them can help them feel more comfortable with you. Asking them questions about things they are playing with e.g. oh you like dinosaurs great, which one is your favourite? Some children can be unsettled or take longer to be away from their parents. As you notice people coming in the room, introduce yourself to the parent and child, and ask them what they like to do. Your role as the leader is to bond with the child so they feel safe so it might be colouring in with them etc and being proactive in helping the child and parent to settle. 

Safety is also key- sometimes they want to see their parents and can try and escape the room. Please redirect them by saying mum/dad/ _____ will be back soon, if they are becoming more distraught try and engage them in a game or ask if they'd like a story. If this still doesn't work then speak to the room leader to contact their parents to come and settle them. 

Try to keep your eyes on the door while they are playing to ensure no-one unauthorized comes in or a child doesn’t try and open up the door. 

Under no circumstances are we allowed to take them to the toilet. At drop off ask the parents have you taken them to the toilet, as we cannot do so and to keep their phones on loud for us to contact them. If a child does need the toilet then phone their parents straight away, if they don’t answer them send a text, then walk into the auditorium if no answer within 2-5mins and ask the child to point out their parent. Let the parent take them to the toilet and then head back to the room. 

Signing out- It's VERY IMPORTANT  that you ask the adult collecting the child for the sticker with their code on it. Then check on the ipad or Elvanto system that the number matches the sticker before they take them. If they have forgotten the sticker, ask them to go back and get it. If they don’t have one or have lost it, speak to the room leader to confirm the adult is the correct person that the child should go with. 

Behaviour It can be hard for some children to sit for long in a structured environment and to even have to share toys at times. Gently and respectfully redirect the child to the mat if it's not play time, and say gentle hands if they are hurting someone else. If this is continuing to happen please advise Ps Simon or Hannah to speak to the parent about it. If you are finding a child difficult you can also ask another leader in the room to help you with them. We need to stay calm in those difficult moments and find ways to support the child. 

Ministry moments- our heart is for these children to not only learn about God but to actually encounter him too. So in the ministry time of our service pray over the kids as the leader is guiding that time and be sensitive to the Holy Spirit. We understand that even some of the leaders are still growing in this area of their own faith journey so look to the room leader if that's the case. 

Relationships are very key for them. Saying hi when the child comes in and introducing yourself. During the freeplay check in with their week, go around each table to connect with them. If they are new, introduce them to another child who is a similar age and ask them to help look after the new person. 

Safety please keep your eyes on the door to ensure the children don’t just walk out of the door unattended. Toileting is only assigned to a few leaders taking them to the toilet. It is always more than one child at a time, they wait on the wall in a line and we check the middle toilet is free then send them in one at a time. We then take the whole group back together. DO NOT LET THE CHILDREN GO INTO THE MEN'S OR WOMEN'S TOILET ALONE. 

Signing out- It's VERY IMPORTANT  that you ask the adult collecting the child for the sticker with their code on it. Then check on the ipad or Elvanto system that the number matches the sticker before they take them. If they have forgotten the sticker, ask them to go back and get it. If they don’t have one or have lost it, speak to the room leader to confirm the adult is the correct person that the child should go with. 

Behaviour It can be hard for some children to sit for long in a structured environment. Gently and respectfully redirect the child to the mat if it's not play time, and say gentle hands if they are hurting someone else. If this is continuing to happen please advise Ps Simon or Hannah to speak to the parent about it. If you are finding a child difficult you can also ask another leader in the room to help you with them. We need to stay calm in those difficult moments and find ways to support the child. 

Ministry moments- our heart is for these children to not only learn about God but to actually encounter him too. So in the ministry time of our service pray over the kids as the leader is guiding that time and be sensitive to the Holy Spirit. We understand that even some of the leaders are still growing in this area of their own faith journey so look to the room leader if that's the case. 

Connection groups- After the video message we can get into aged split groups and ask them questions either provided or about the message and how they can apply it to themselves. Offer to pray for them about anything they need prayer for, lead them to understand what the key lesson is for that day.

Dress Code:

We come to our Sunday services dressed in the hm kids t-shirt, Not any other teams T-shirts so that it is clear that you are in the kids team. You can wear shorts, pants or modest skirt with the T-shirt. Please don’t wear jackets or a jumper over the T-shirt. 

Blue Card:

All volunteers at hm.church are required to have a blue card issued by the Government. This is free and easily accessible. Once you have applied for a blue card, please provide your name, date of birth, card number and expiry date to Ps Hannah. If you don’t yet have a Blue Card go here for more info.

Children Safety training 

All children's volunteers need to complete training modules that go through a bit more depth with being safe with children and when serving in the kids ministry. You will need to create your own login: https://learning.humanrights.gov.au/admin/tool/sitepolicy/userpolicy.php 

Then enrol for the course called: Introduction to the principles for safe organisations. There is an introduction video then 10 modules after this first one. You have to watch and complete all of them which is about 20mins each module. Once completed you need to email a copy to kids@hmchurch.org for Ps Hannah to save in the church drive.

Punctuality:

Your reliability sets the tone for the team. Please arrive on time at HM church early is on time and stay until the pack down is complete. If you are unable to attend or will be late, let the leader know as early as possible and arrange cover in the team group chats.

Communication:

We use Facebook Messenger & SMS for Sunday updates and team communications. We believe in honouring each other's time and effort so expect responses to communications. When the rosters come out also making sure you find cover with someone in the team if you can’t do a date, then advising Ps Hannah. Also making sure that you block out any leave on our Elvanto app ahead of time so you won’t be rostered on those dates. 

Meetings: 

We will have training meetings or times where we hold meetings to go over things for the area etc. We expect leaders to prioritize these as we give as much notice as we can of when these are. 

Church attendance: 

We want to make sure you are attending church regularly when you aren’t serving to ensure that you are being connected to our church and being fed. Also we want our volunteers to attend a connect group to be discipled to grow in your walk with God too. 

Confidentiality: 

Not speaking to other parents about children that aren’t there. Making sure that you are not venting to a parent about a child, leader or adult and speaking to Ps Hannah or Simon about any issues, complaints or concerns. 

Integrity: 

As children’s leaders we are an example to children so we would expect our leaders to not be swearing, being inappropriate and making sure you are living a life above reproach meaning that we are walking in a relationship with God ourselves, making sure we are not living a life of sin.