Children and young people at St Andrew’s

St Andrew’s believe that children and young people are a vital part of our community and need to be treat as such. St Andrew’s works hard to ensure that children and families are not only welcome, but can contribute fully to our worshipping life.

There is usually Junior Church most Sunday mornings and when there is not Junior Church the worship is for all ages. The whole church family worships together for the first 15 minutes and then the children leave the worship space to participate in learning at a more appropriate level. Whilst young people are in the service they are expected to behave like children (adults are also expected to behave like adults!). We are fully aware at St Andrew’s that children will scream, throw tantrums, run around and even need there nappy changing! We wouldn’t want any parent feeling uncomfortable about their child behaving as a child. We have a disabled toilet with a pull down changing unit for those untimely moments!

First Steps

First steps is a crèche for pre school children. The crèche is currently staffed by two volunteers and offers a variety of toys and activities for pre school children. First Steps, alongside the whole congregation, hope to enable children to feel comfortable and at home within the worshipping community.

Junior Church

Junior Church uses a variety of teaching techniques to enable some of the youngest members of our congregation to learn and understand more fully the Biblical stories that help to form the foundation of our faith.

Kids on Saturday (KOS)

KOS runs the first Saturday of every month at Cheddleton Community Centre, Hollow Lane from 10 till 11.55am. This group is for all children between the ages of 5 to 9 years, and is run by our friends at St Edward’s. Like Junior Church, KOS enables children to participate in the stories that form part of our Christian tradition. They also have some amazing craft ideas!

Crusaders

Crusaders is a Christian youth group for young people aged between 8 and 16. It meets on the first Wednesday of each month at St Andrew’s from 7 to 8.30pm. It has a committed staff and an excellent programme. Crusaders tries to develop young people’s understanding of the Christian Faith and explores the possibilities with young people who regularly attend a church and those who do not.

The safety of your child.

All our workers with children and young people have received clearance to work with children and young people by the Criminal Records Bureau. The Methodist Church has a child protection policy called Safeguarding. At St Andrew’s we also have our own safeguarding policy.