Running the kids desk on Sunday
The Check-in tab is the teacher's screen. It shows who is here, what to watch for, and lets you reach parents and release kids without leaving the page.
Before you begin
- You need the Check-in tab (an admin, or a volunteer who was invited to it).
- Open it on a phone or tablet at the kids desk. It updates on its own as parents check in.
Step-by-step
- Open Check-in and tap the service. The Events list shows every upcoming service with check-in, live ones first with a green Live badge and a count of kids here now. Search it by name or location, then tap a row to open that service's roster. Go live on a row opens the kids page for that service right away; Turn off closes it for the rest of that day. Reopen it, or put it back on its schedule, from the roster.
- Check in a family who did not use the link. Type any part of a parent's or child's name, email, or phone into the Search a family box. The whole household appears, adults first, then kids with their age and grade. Untick anyone staying with the parent and tap Check in. The pickup code is texted to the parent (or emailed when their number can't be texted) and shown in the confirmation. The parent who dropped the kids off is counted in attendance too, so there is nothing extra to tap for them.
- Add a walk-up family. Click Add family, fill in the parent, add each child, and click Add and check in. If a child with the same name and birthday already exists, Churchday shows the match so you can search for that family instead of creating a second record.
- Watch the Here now list. Each child shows their age and grade, an amber Allergy marker (tap it to read the allergy), a From parent marker when the parent left a note for the teacher, a Note marker when staff left a private note, the pickup code, and which parent dropped them off. Use the age chips (Nursery, Pre-K, K to 2nd, and so on) to see only your room.
- Text one parent. Tap Text parent on a child's row. A small window shows the message ("Please come to the kids room to pick up Aanya"), which you can edit before tapping Send. You can send to the same parent again after two minutes.
- Text every parent. Click Text all parents, adjust the message if you like, and click Send. One message goes to each parent of a child still here. This can be sent once every five minutes.
- Release by pickup code. Type the parent's code into the Code box and tap Pick up. The matching kids highlight first so you can confirm the names, then move to Picked up.
Good to know
- No code? Tap Picked up on the child's row instead. Churchday asks you to confirm and records that a staff member released the child without a code.
- Picked up by mistake? Open Picked up at the bottom and tap Undo.
- Fix a child's details. Tap a child's name to open their card. You can correct the name, birthday, grade, and allergies, add a private Staff note (only staff ever see it), and resend the code.
- New today. Families who set up through the kids link in the last few hours and have not checked in yet appear at the top with a Check in button, so a first-time family finishing on their phone shows up on your screen on its own.
- Open early, or close early. The kids page normally opens on the event's check-in window (45 minutes before the start by default, changeable in the event editor). The strip at the top of a service's roster says Live now or Not live. Tap Turn on check-in: it lets parents drop off from the kids page right away, whether the service is today or on an upcoming date, and stays open until someone taps Turn off or that service's day ends. Turn off shuts the kids page even while the window says open, for when kids church wraps up early. Back to automatic returns to the window rule.
- Kids check-in off for an event? The page says so and parents cannot drop off from the kids link, but you can still check kids in from here.