Nursery Ministry

Thank you so much for your interest in the nursery ministry here at our growing church! We appreciate you! Volunteering your time to be with the little ones on a Sunday morning can often be a thankless ministry….it certainly isn’t a spotlight position. Please know that your service in this area is not overlooked by God most of all, or by me, your “go to” person and Nursery Coordinator, Jane Leech. If you have any questions at all, please contact me directly either by phone or by e-mail: 603.209.0777 or mommyleech@aol.com. Here are the general guidelines and policies for the nurseries. Thank you again!

Check-In / Check-Out Procedure

1. It is important to be in the nursery 10 minutes before the service begins. This is a very important piece of nursery work, perhaps one of the most important in our attempts to minimize confusion between services!
2. Each volunteer should make themselves a nametag with the supplies provided.
3. Have one volunteer welcome parents at the door while the other volunteers stand by to receive the children and keep them occupied while parents sign them in.
4. WHEN THE PARENTS ARRIVE:

New Families:

Direct them to the yellow Information Cards on the wall in the hallway and ask them to take a moment to fill one out for their child. Then proceed with step c.

Regular Families:

a. Kindly inform to parents to stay outside in the hallway. Babies can be handed over the half door and toddlers can walk into the room by themselves. (Please stay flexible for individual family needs.)

b. Instruct families to find their child’s Information Card in the file box.

c. Take the child’s card and clip it to the corresponding clipboard. Their belongings can then be hung on the corresponding hook (or cubby in the toddler room).

d. Give the parent their wrist coil. (Each child that attends regularly has their name on the wrist coil. New families or visitors should be given a wrist coil with a number. Don’t forget to write the child’s number on the attendance sheet so you can match the numbers when the parent picks them up.)

e. Remind the parent to bring the wrist coil back at the end of the service to retrieve their child. No child will be released without receiving the wrist coil first!

f. Take the time while receiving children to label them and their belongings IF NEED BE. This is up to the discretion of the nursery volunteer. Please take the necessary time to get the children situated!

g. Please wash or wipe down any toys that were used on your shift.

h. Please remain in the nursery until all the children have been picked up and/or if the next shift of nursery volunteers have arrived.

i. Take attendance of all the children you had in your care that day. (Clipboard is on the wall.) If children have been picked up, file their Information Card back in the box in the hallway. If children are still in the room, the next worker will file their card at the end of the next service.

Guidelines for Nursery Volunteers

Child Safety

Please do not bring hot beverages into the nursery!

To maximize child safety, an adult female volunteer must be present in the nursery at ALL times. Please do not leave the room, even if only for a few minutes. If you need extra help, please page the deacon on duty (#1).

Cleaning/Pick-up

Please leave the nursery picked up and clean. There are cleaning supplies accessible and any cleaning done by the nursery workers is greatly appreciated! Please at least wipe down the toys that were played with during your shift.

Consoling

If reasonable, try to comfort a crying child for at least 10 minutes before having someone retrieve a parent from the sanctuary unless the parent has instructed otherwise.

Diapering/Toileting

All diaper changes are to be done by a female volunteer, unless a parent requests permission to enter and do it themselves. When helping a child in the bathroom, the top half of the bathroom door is to be left open. Only females or the child’s parents are allowed to help the children in the bathroom. Please wash your hands before and after diapering each child!

Discipline

The only form of discipline administered should be a time-out after extended grace. If a child is continually disruptive or unmanageable, contact a deacon or parent. This is at the volunteer’s discretion, bearing in mind the safety of all. As parents we know this is a sensitive area. Please show utmost compassion and love to all involved.

Use care and sensitivity in approaching a parent with child issues. Many of the parents are overwhelmed and very much aware of issues with their children while other parents are in the dark as to their child’s noteworthy behavior. Please be sensitive!

Need Help?

Use other female helpers to escort children out of the nursery if needed or page the deacon on duty (#1). If no one has arrived for the next shift, please page the deacon on duty so they can mention the need for the Sprout Express Team from the pulpit. Please wait to make this call until the next service is 10 minutes underway.

Other

Please honor our efforts to keep only the approved volunteers in the nursery. No siblings or unscheduled volunteers should be in the nursery rooms at any time.

If you suspect child abuse, report it directly to the pastor, associate pastor, or elder immediately. It will be handled accordingly from that point, and should not be discussed with anyone else.