Check-in session templates

Introduction

The Check-in system is purpose-designed to register and check children and young people into groups at the start of a session and securely check them out again at the end of the session. Session attendance from the Check-in system is automatically added to the Children module, and leaders have a comprehensive Check-in Admin Area with everything they need to manage their group and the children in their care.

In many churches, the same session settings are likely used each time your groups meet. You can make starting a check-in session easier for your leaders by adding session templates for each of your gatherings - both Sunday and mid-week gatherings. A session template stores all the session settings, making starting a new session from a template a 'button click' process for your leaders.

Adding a session template

Working within the Children module, navigate into the Session Templates section from the Attendance menu:

Click Add template:

On the Add template pop-up, give the template a suitable Name. For example, "Friday Youth Club", "Sunday 9:30 Gathering", and "Sunday 11:30 Gathering". Notice the naming convention. You don't need to include the session date - session attendance will be automatically dated each time the template is used - you'll use the same template each time you run a Check-in session for a particular Gathering. With this in mind, the template name might be the same as the gathering name, but where a gathering repeats across services, you'll want the template name to distinguish the service that the attendance will be recorded for. This will help with attendance reporting, enabling you to track attendance for each service session over a range of dates.

Next, select the Gathering. The gathering is the collection of groups for which session attendance will be recorded using this template. See our related support article for further information about creating Gatherings and groups for children and Adding children to groups. You'll likely add a separate session template for each of your gatherings.

Next, select the Days this gathering meets. This might be only Sunday for a weekend service, but the Check-in system can also be used for mid-week gatherings such as youth clubs and other mid-week activities. Selecting all the possible days this gathering typically meets will ensure the session template is always shown on the appropriate day the Check-in system is being used and not shown on days when the gathering doesn't meet. For example, a session template for a "Thursday youth club" wouldn't be visible except when the Check-in system is used on a Thursday. This will help your team to select and start the correct session before the children arrive.

Next, select the Check-in Code to be shown on child and parent/carer pick-up badges. This is a safeguarding feature whereby a unique code for the date and session is assigned and displayed on the child and parent/carer pick-up badges. Your team can use the code to ensure each child is being returned to the appropriate responsible person at the end of the session, and this is especially helpful for younger children. You can choose between a code that is Auto-generated by ChurchSuite or one that is Manually entered - perhaps where you have a separate safeguarding numbering system, such as coloured and numbered wristbands that you give to a parent/carer to collect each of their children. When 'Manually entered' is selected, the check-in user experience will require manual entry of a check-in code to complete the check-in process for each child.

The next template setting controls the Check-in Process:

• Register & Check In—This is a one-stage process in which badges are produced, and the child is immediately checked in and recorded as being in attendance. This option applies where children are immediately handed over to your care as soon as they are registered and their badges are produced.
• Register First, Check In Later—This is a two-stage process in which badges are produced, but no check-in attendance is recorded until the child is checked in later in the gathering, which can be done from the Check-in "Admin Area." This option applies where children remain with their parents/carers after registration and are handed over to your care later in the gathering.

In both processes, you always have an up-to-date safeguarding register for the session of children that are registered, those who are checked in as 'in your care' and those who have been checked out and returned to parents/carers.

Finally, the Badge Options determine how many of each type of badge are to be printed, which means you can set different badge-printing options for other sessions. The badge printing quantity of each type is first defined on a group-by-group basis - see the related support article on Gatherings and groups for children. By default, the session template uses that Group default setting; however, for each badge type, you can override this and specify a fixed number of badges to always print for all groups in the gathering or choose "None" if no badge printing is applicable for this session template. If you find that no badges are being printed, the likely cause is that the "Group default setting" is selected, and the underlying groups have a badge print quantity of 0 specified.

Click Save to add the session template. Further templates can be added as required. Note the template Actions to View, Duplicate, Edit, Archive and Delete. You can archive templates that are no longer in use. You can switch between viewing Active and Archived session templates. Archived templates are no longer shown in the Check-in system but can be Set as active if later needed again. Neither Archiving nor Deleting a template will impact historically recorded attendance or children's data.

With session templates added, you are ready to begin using them in the Check-in system. For instructions on starting a check-in session, see the related article Child check-in—operation linked below.