Guidelines for setting up a new Bible club for a primary school

Staffing

Plan for the number of adult helpers needed to allow the club to run. The group should never run with too few staff. The ratio of adults to children should be about 1:10.

Know the team members well enough prior to running such a group to eliminate any problems like reliability, skills, relating well to the team. If one of the team is unable to attend, and you have too few helpers that week, then the school must be informed prior to the event to give notice that the club will not be running.

CRB checks

All team members must have completed a CRB check before they start helping. CRB checks through your local church are satisfactory. It is also advisable that you attend a child protection presentation so that you and your team are fully aware of child safety issues.

Discipline

There are of course procedures everyone must follow when working with children and your team members need to be effective, as well as having the appropriate manner when talking to children. Appropriate sanctions for discipline should be discussed with the school so every team member is aware of the procedures and follows them. If the children become too disruptive then they might be asked to leave.

Permission

In a club which children choose to come to, it is important that you get their parents’ written permission, and that they understand the club will give Bible teaching.

When you have this permission, you can be more explicit about Christian teaching, commitment and prayer than you would be in a lesson or assembly – see the sample parents’ permission form.

Ending

Depending on when the club meets (i.e. lunch time or after school) you will need to take into account the finishing time of the group. If it is lunch time then ensure the children return to class, or if it after school then only release the children to their parents.

For after school clubs you will need to check with the school as to their policy on releasing the children to parents and where the most suitable location will be. Also you will need to think about this communication to the parents so you are aware of who will be collecting
the children from school or if indeed they are not collected at all.

School

Establishing a good working relationship with the school is very important, as you are a visitor to the school and you must at all times set a good example. It is strongly suggested that one person be deemed as ‘leader’ of the club and the other members be helpers. This helps with communication with the school as they will have one person to contact and one telephone number.

To assist you further, you can produce something like our ‘Information to Schools’ see sample. This will inform the school about the basis of the group and who has the responsibility for running it.

We would recommend that the responsibility does not fall onto the shoulders of school staff.