Saint Matthews Sunday School Program

We are in the third year of using the Episcopal Children's Curriculum which has provided Saint Matthews with a well respected program that continues to grow each year. We hope the information below will answer your questions about our program, but we also welcome you to come and experience it for yourselves and "try us out"!

Please do not hesitate to contact Lucy Templeton, Director of Youth Formation or Father Bill Thomas if you would like to discuss our program in further depth. You can contact us at (304) 343-3837.

How many children attend?

We have a healthy and active Sunday School which is constantly growing. We currently average around 50 children a week.

Where are classes held?

Saint Matthews has four dedicated classrooms and a nursery downstairs in Mathes Hall. Mathes Hall is located across the road behind the church. Enter by the door left of center, and you will see the welcome sign to Sunday School infront of you

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What time do classes begin?

School opens at 10am with classes beginning promptly at 10:30am. The school runs concurrently with the 10:30am Eucharist Service in the main church.

For the safety of our children, the door leading down to our Sunday School is locked at 10:30am. If you arrive after this time, please ring the doorbell to let us know you are waiting.

What age groups do you teach?

We have a nursery and four classes. The age breakdown is as follows:

Nursery: We are currently blessed to have Maribel and Art on staff to take care of any babies and toddlers in the nursery. They provide a very nurturing and caring environment and use imaginative activities to entertain older toddlers. The nursery is stocked with baby supplies, a pack and play and educational toys appropriate for the age group.

Toddler Class in the Green Room: We have very few babies and toddlers enrolled with us at present, so Maribel and Art also take care of the children who are not quite ready to be in the Preschool Class. While the Episcopal Children's Curriculum (ECC) does not cover this age group, we use appropriate material to introduce the children to Jesus and basic bible stories.

Preschool/Kindergarten Class in the Blue Room: This is typically one of our largest classes, which takes children aged 3+ through to those in Kindergarten. We work with the parents to decide when an individual child is ready to be in this more structured class which uses the ECC. Due to the size and age group, two teachers are in this class at all times.

Primary Class in the Orange Room: This class is for children in 1st through 3rd Grades.

Intermediate Class in the Yellow Room: This class is for children in 4th through 6th Grades.

What Curriculum do you use?

We use the Episcopal Children's Curriculum (ECC). The aim of the ECC is to sustain and strengthen the ministry of teaching in the Episcopal Church, by providing our teachers with biblically based and liturgically oriented lesson plans that they can adapt to the needs of our individual classes. Most lessons incorporate appropriate material from The Bible, The Book of Common Prayer and the Hymnal, to teach church traditions and standard responses used during Episcopal worship. The program therefore fully assists every child to interpret and live out the covenant made in Holy Baptism and help them build their own unique relationship with God.

The curriculum provides teachers with 10-15 minute segments based on storytelling, crafts, activities, games and music which they select to fit the needs of the class. This helps engage the children for the duration of the class, and helps to reinforce the lesson of the day.

How does the curriculum work?

The ECC is designed on a three year rotation. Each year provides lessons for Preschool, Primary and Intermediate Classes, and at each level totally different material is taught. With nine total years worth of lesson plans, that means your child will never be tuaght the same lesson twice. The material gets progressively harder and more indepth through the years to keep the children engaged and learning.

Each year is broken down into 4 units of nine weeks each. The teachers normally teach one unit, and then hand over to another teacher. All our teachers are members of Saint Matthews and are committed to the ECC method of teaching.

Does Sunday School run all year?

Our program usually starts at the end of August and runs through the end of May. There are dates in the calendar when classes are not held to enable the children and congregation to attend church together at Family Worship. The nursery however, is operational every Sunday without exception.

Starting in 2009, throughout the summer we will be providing a one class Summer Program which will be more informal for families still wishing to attend Sunday Services.

Do you run a Vacation Bible School?

Yes! We have a very successful VBS program with around 100 children attending each year. We are already planning VBS to start on July 14th, 2009, so mark the date on your calendar!

What do you do to ensuer the safety of the children?

We take the wellbeing and safety of all children extremely seriously at Saint Matthews. The door leading to the Sunday School Classrooms is locked for outside access when Sunday School starts at 10:30am (one way lock, so we can still get out in an emergency!).

The premises are regularly wiped down with disinfectant, and we ask parents not to bring chidlren if they have a cold with a yellow discharge, fever or other known infectious condition.

Our Nursery assistants, church staff and teachers are required to attend the Episcopal training workshop called "Safeguarding God's Children" which is a sexual abuse awareness and prevention program.

We ask you to fill in a registration form so we know of any known allergies or medical conditions and copies of these forms are kept in the classrooms so teachers ahve access to your contact infromation.

If you have any concerns, please talk to us so we can address them immediately.