Policy and Procedures for MVC Nursery Staff and Volunteers

Philosophy

At MVC, we believe that at all times children in the nursery should be treated with respect, love, and compassion. We provide families with a consistently clean, friendly, professional, and loving place to leave their babies and toddlers so they can attend church without worrying about their children. Our job is to teach children that the church is a safe place to play, and a place where they can have fun with other children and loving adults. We are in the nursery to interact, play with, and attend to the children’s needs, not to chat with the other volunteers.

Attendance

We understand that at this young age, a familiar face is very important to the children’s comfort level in the nursery. Therefore, we ask you to commit to your position, and expect your attendance every Sunday unless an emergency arises. If you cannot be there for your scheduled time in the nursery, we ask that you make an effort to have your shift covered by a church- approved, responsible adult. If you cannot find a substitute, please contact Nancy Moorman or Patsy Helmick at the earliest possible time so that they can try to find a substitute for you.

Discipline

At this age, we understand that it is developmentally appropriate for children to demonstrate behaviors that are not acceptable at other ages, such as not wanting to share,snatching toys, losing self-control, spitting, hitting, and other similar behaviors. We do not label children (such as “Bad boy!”), but rather, we address the action (such as “We do not hit each other in the nursery. No hitting.”) Under no circumstances do we ever spank, slap hands, intimidate, yell at, or shame children. If a child has done something unacceptable, we can speak calmly, quietly, and directly to that child about his behavior. If the behavior continues, appropriate action may include redirecting childrento a different activity, separating children who are having trouble playing together, and time-outs.If a child continues to be a danger to himself or others, a parent may be contacted via the paging system and the child removed from the nursery. However, all other options should be exhausted before removal of a child, as this may discourage the parents from attending church at all.

Expected Duties

It is expected that the nursery staff will:

  • Arrive 30 minutes before the service starts to prepare the nursery.
  • Supervise all volunteers in the nursery to ensure that they are providing an excellent level of care.
  • Perform all diaper changes.
  • Provide the majority of disciplinary actions.
  • Decide when and if parents are paged.
  • Provide productive activities for children during the service.
  • Communicate with parents at pick up if there were any incidents involving their children (including dirty diapers, scuffles with other children, etc).
  • Clean up after the service, including putting away all toys, wiping down all toys with anti-bacterial wipes, cleaning the diaper changing station, stacking the chairs, and sorting the bins.