In this week’s episode, Beth Golik helps ministry leaders tackle another summer project: creating or updating Student Intake Forms.
Listen now in your favorite podcast app!
Quick Links:
053: Creating Individualized Spiritual Plans for Your Ministry Participants with Sandra Peoples
Student Intake Form Sample Questions
If You Enjoyed this Episode, You May Also Like:
049: VBS: A Plan for Inclusion with Sandra Peoples
046: Adding Social Stories to Your Toolbox with Beth Golik
041: Reimagine with Beth Golik
Transcript:
Hi there, ministry leaders! I’m Beth Golik from Key Ministry. Did you catch last week’s episode of Key Ministry: The Podcast? My fellow co-host, Sandra Peoples, walked us through the process of creating ISPs, or Individualized Spiritual Plans. Do me, and yourself, a favor and please listen to Episode 053 or read the transcript which you can find at keyministry.org/podcast.
The info that Sandra shared in that episode inspired me to spend some time developing ISPs for the students in our church’s ministry. I love the way ISPs can help our volunteers engage students with the gospel while identifying and meeting the unique needs of each child or adult in our classrooms. But that got me thinking about something else we can all work on this summer: creating or updating student intake forms.
Let’s talk about the purpose of student intake forms and then we can get to the nitty gritty of how to create them.
Student intake forms can help you and your volunteers better meet the needs of individual students in your classrooms. The information that is captured will help you make decisions about the classroom environment and what tools and strategies you might need to implement.
You can create an online or paper form for parents or guardians to complete. I’m going to give you some suggested questions in a minute. I’d recommend reaching out to parents to update the form on at least an annual basis, especially for younger students who are still school age.
When a family completes the student intake form, you’ll want to share the results with your volunteers in a way that is helpful to them without oversharing where it’s not appropriate. For instance, if the classroom that you use is a shared space, do not post or leave the info forms out for public viewing. Treat the personal information that has been provided with care and respect and only share with those who need it. Perhaps in your classroom this might look like a binder or set of index cards that are kept in a secure cabinet when Sunday School is not in session.
So what kinds of questions should you ask on a student intake form?
I’ll tell you one question I don’t ask: “What is the student’s diagnosis?” Parents may choose to share their child’s diagnosis with you when answering some of the other questions. But to me, what’s more important than knowing a diagnosis, is knowing the student’s likes and dislikes, behavior patterns, and areas of need where we can provide support.
Here are some sample questions you might want to consider on a student intake form for your Sunday morning programming.
By the way, I’ll include a link to these questions in the shownotes for this episode, available for you to download at keyministry.org/podcast.
Start with the child’s name and parent contact information. If there is other info that you want to capture for your church database, such as birthdate or address, here’s a chance to get it.
The next question I like to ask is:
“Please share a few of the things you love about your child and what makes them special.”
So often parents of kids with disabilities are asked to share about the behavior or medical challenges of their child. With this question, we want to give parents a chance to brag on their kid! This will also help your volunteers connect with students in a new way—through the eyes of a loving parent…just like God sees each of us, His children.
The next few questions will help you set up your classroom structure and environment:
“What activities does your child enjoy?”
“What activities/environments might upset your child?”
“What can we do to comfort your child?”
You’ll want to capture necessary medical information with the next couple of questions:
“Is your child prone to seizures? (if yes, please elaborate)”
“Does your child have allergies? (if yes, please elaborate)”
“Are there foods/drinks we should not give your child?”
Be sure to ask questions about what kind of support will be needed with toileting, communication and mobility. For example:
“Please indicate special toileting needs/schedule.”
“Please tell us about your child’s communication skills.”
“Does your child use any assistive devices (walker, wheelchair, communication device)?”
The next question might be helpful to you as you develop an ISP for the student:
“What is your child’s understanding of God/relationship with Christ?”
The next couple of questions should help you obtain a better understanding of a student’s behavior:
“Please describe any adverse behaviors that we should be aware of and how they are being addressed at home or school.”
“Are there behavior plans or tools that you’d like to share with us to maintain consistency between home, school, and church?”
I think it’s valuable to be able to offer consistency whenever possible between church and whatever behavior plans are in place in the child’s primary environments, meaning home and school. If a parent tells me there are certain words or visuals they use at home and school, we try to use those in the Sunday School classroom if at all possible. An example might be the words “safe hands” with the accompanying action of clasping one’s hands together as a reminder to the student that they need to stop a behavior that might injure themselves, another person, or property.
A final question—“Any additional information you’d like to share?”—gives parents a chance to add whatever else they want. Some families will provide paragraphs and others will leave it blank.
After you’ve collected and compiled data from the student intake forms, and figured out how to share it with your volunteers, please reach out to Key Ministry if you need help developing a plan for particular students or situations. We have resources on our website and you can click on the “Contact” tab to schedule a consultation.
