Directors Information
As a director at CYC Waihola, you set the tone for a great camp experience. This page provides CYC Waihola Directors Information, practical advice, and guidance to help you direct an incredible camp!
The Director's Role
You are the primary camp planner and leader of the volunteers at your camp.
You report to and work closely with CYC Paid Staff.
You must agree fully with CYC's Statement of Faith and have prior CYC camp leadership experience (preferred).
Fully adhere to CYC's policies. Policies relevant to the Director's role are outlined below.
Must have completed all leaders paperwork outlined on our Volunteers Page.
The six purposes of camp
Keep these in mind in everything you plan, say and teach.
Present the Gospel at the campers' level of understanding.
Build a foundation of Christian living: Bible reading, prayer, worship, witness and service.
Show what real Christians living for Christ look like.
Provide a healthy, active holiday camp with character and leadership development.
Get to know campers individually and help with their spiritual needs.
Encourage campers to keep growing after camp through their local church and youth group. Camp supplements the church; it does not replace it.
Roles to Fill for your Camp
As director, you are mainly responsible for finding volunteers, with support from the CYC team - we will help you!
Finding leaders early is key, as all leaders must be vetted before camp begins, and vetting can take up to six weeks.
Send your volunteers to our volunteers page to get their paperwork done.
Cabin Leaders - 2 per bunkroom
Aim for 8 Cabin Leaders, any more is a bonus! We generally have 1 senior leader (18+), 1 junior leader (16+), and potentially a Leader in Training or two!
Camp Speaker
Second most important role at camp! Must hold to the Statement of Faith. Speaks twice a day with talks appropriate for 8 to 12 year olds. Talks must not feel like school lessons.
Camp Parents
Someone who has experience with children and an ability to support campers throughout the week, helping everyone feel included and cared for - both leaders and campers!
Cook
Follows our food control policy and, with clear guidance, prepares delicious camp meals for everyone. This is an essential role at camp, as good food keeps us energised for activities and enables camp to run! CYC Staff sort the menu and order the food!
Camp Nurse - First Aid Trained
Minimum one person with a current first aid certificate (or a registered nurse or health professional). Many of our leaders already have this on record.
Information about camp numbers
Our camp maximum is 50 (this is an OSCAR requirement) but you can generally expect 30-40 campers. This amounts to a maximum of 10 campers per bunkroom, with 2 leaders in each (sleeping 12).
Camp Planning Timeline
This is a general step-by-step timeline on when certain aspects of your planning should be completed by.
Use this as a guide, not a set of rules.
As soon as you say yes to directing
Confirm dates with CYC Staff (tell them early about any date constraints).
Draft a program. Ready-made themes and programs are available, so use them as is or adapt them. Themes are not compulsory, some directors prefer them and some don't - that's okay!
Get an approved leaders list from the Ministry Coordinator and start asking people. Report any leaders you think are no longer suitable.
6 months out
Speaker finalised and briefed on the theme (if you have one).
Let the speaker know there's generally two talks per day, voluntary Bible times, memory verses, and discuss who organises cabin devotions (usually the speaker but not always).Keep recruiting, aiming for enough leaders to cover maximum camper numbers. Remember, 2 leaders per cabin, maximum 50 campers!
Send volunteers to our volunteer page so they can complete paperwork.
Confirm any changes to camp start/end time. If you don't change it, CYC Staff will advertise usual times: 1pm drop-off, 1pm pick-up.
4 months out
Draft timetable done, and props and resources being gathered (check what CYC already holds).
Check that your leaders have time off work or study. Tell CYC Staff now if you are short of leaders.
Check in with the speaker.
Send volunteers to our volunteer page so they can complete paperwork.
2 months out
Discussions on your timetable should have begun with CYC staff and any high-risk activities raised.
Confirm which RAMS forms and activity sign-offs are needed and who is trained in what. If your team lacks training for high-risk activities (air rifles, archery, flying fox, go carts, horse riding), CYC staff can run them.
All leaders and cooks finalised, with details sent to CYC Staff.
Get speaker talk outlines.
You may wish to start a leaders' guide (a timetable at minimum, a full camp manual at best). This is not a must!
Keep staff in the loop.
Send volunteers to our volunteer page so they can complete paperwork.
1 week out
Enrolments officially close 7 days before camp so you and CYC Staff can begin final paperwork. This is likely to change a bit as campers pull out and are replaced by last-minute campers. You don't need to accept these if you don't want to.
Email all your volunteers (not just leaders) outlining what time you'd like to have a leaders meeting/briefing, and CC staff into this email.
Receive the camper list (names, birthdates, cabin requests) plus health and behaviour concerns from the Ministry Coordinator.
Make cabin groups, matching compatible senior and junior leaders, and brief leaders on specific camper needs. Honour parent cabin requests where possible.
Duty and activity groups: recommended to stay the same as cabin groups all week, but this is your choice. Make sure enough trained leaders are available for each activity.
CYC Staff will send out the information letter and gear list to all campers.
Day 1
Leaders have their gear set up in cabins and have prayed before campers arrive.
Junior leaders run a game for arriving campers. Senior leaders welcome campers and take them to cabins. Watch for parents who "dump and run" without signing in. Check whether anyone arrives by bus.
Arrival: sign in at the registration desk, hand medications and the dosage form to the camp nurse, hand in money, phones, devices and valuables. Campers receive name labels and cabin assignments. Senior leaders walk campers to cabins and talk with parents about specific needs.
Keep to simple games before dinner. CYC Staff give a thorough safety-rules briefing, the director follows to run campers through camp rules, duties, meal instructions and the cabin competition.
Fire drill within 24 hours. Tell campers beforehand and show them the meeting point. The CYC Staff can start the alarms.
Key camp rules (for your briefing)
No leaving the property without permission, and campers stay out of other cabins.
Cross the road only at the main driveway entrances, with leaders (use road cones when crossing often). Take special care at the highway and keep clear of the railway line.
Out of bounds: kitchen and pantry (except dish duty), hay barn, wool shed, workshop, store room, other unused buildings, tractors and machinery, livestock, fire extinguishers, hoses and escapes (except in an emergency), and all Waihola town businesses.
Keep fire escapes clear, and lights and heaters off when not in use. No pillow fights or banister sliding.
Hand washing after the toilet and before meals. Campers must not sleep in day clothes.
Respect property and uphold CYC's good name. Deal firmly with anyone wandering off.
Daily Camp Rhythms
Leaders' meeting: You lead. Delegate someone to lead a devotion of 5 minutes or less, prayer, and the day's plan. Sort out cabin issues here. Keep it on point. 1 leader can supervise awake campers.
Cabin devotions: Campers sit on bunks with Bibles, read the set passage, ask or answer a couple of questions and pray briefly. It's not a long exposition, and nobody is forced to pray. Spare Bibles are available from the chair area.
Cabin inspection: Same person daily, ideally after morning tea. Announce the competition result at lunch.
Siren: Lining up in cabin groups before every meal and planned activity. Cabin points for quickest.
Meals: Set the procedures at the first meal and keep them all week. Wash hands AND use hand sanitiser, leaders sit with their cabins, and nobody leaves without permission. Appoint a daily meal coordinator. Say grace (sung or spoken) and keep it reverent. Stack plates to save trips.
Duties (allow up to 30 minutes): campers' dishes, cooks' dishes, dining room, vegetables, sanitation (twice daily). The whole group stays until the leader is satisfied. Each cabin has a duty daily to avoid downtime. Post the roster. Make duties fun (songs, memory verses, music playing).
Downtime: keep it minimal at junior camps. Leaders should have short games ready. Avoid campers hanging out in cabins alone.
Activities: rotate core on-site activities in the mornings, with big activities in the afternoons. Wet-weather options (indoor games, movie, crafts, quizzes) are a good idea to have up your sleeve.
Activities & Approvals
Core on-site (high risk, sign-off sheets required): archery and air rifles, flying fox, go carts. Horse riding and slingshot paintball by arrangement.
Other equipment (some need RAMS): assault course, GPS units, geocaching, mountain boards, slacklines, bubble soccer, team initiative course.
Pre-written SOPs and RAMS can be found on our activities page. Anything new needs one written by CYC Staff.
Movies: only for wet days or timetable gaps, or to fit the theme. Run any movies past the CYC Staff first. Must be G rated.
Off-site: junior camps are limited to Lake Waihola Domain and McDonald's Park (think carefully about Waihola township walks). Anything else needs approval from the Activity Coordinator or Operations Manager.
Cabin Competitions
A fair, age-appropriate cabin money chart can be found below (thanks to Director Jenna!)
Don't award points for games where older cabins have an unfair advantage.
Options: a progress chart (public, but trailing cabins can lose heart).
Money amounts are in the resource cupboard, and extra competitions (Cluedo, Happy Families) have pre-made cards.
Bedtimes
Leaders sleep nearest the door.
Aim for 9 to 10 hours of sleep.
Routine: supper (and story), cups collected, toilet and teeth, in bed, you patrol, then lights out. Leaders go to bed at the same time as campers.
Be firm on night one: no whispering or torch flashing.
Cabin points can help settle things (lights out first earns points).
Leaders can read a short Christian story (10 minutes or less) after lights out.
No scary stories (a breach of the code of conduct).
Never put a camper alone in a spare cabin or take them elsewhere to sleep. For disruptive campers, move them to another cabin on a mattress on the floor. In extreme cases they may sleep in the director's cabin, but only with another staff member present for ratios. You can phone the Operations Manager at anytime.
Final Day of Camp
Tidy the camp and make sure everyone has showered during the last full day. Avoid muddy games.
Thank all leaders (especially cooks and speakers) at the last meal, and thank campers and invite them back with a friend.
Hand over the CYC Camera to CYC Staff and they can send photos to parents.
Departure routine: simple lunch at 12pm, parents arrive from 1pm. After cabin devotions, luggage out and cabins swept and mopped. You do a final check, then cabins are out of bounds and may be locked. Extended duties after breakfast, and the cabin competition concluded at morning tea.
Pick-up: sign the camper out, check the person against the authorised pick-up list and that the camper is happy to go with them, and return medications and pocket money.
Bus campers: luggage labelled with name and destination, with sleeping bags not tied to bags. One senior leader plus a camp parent or junior leader takes them to the bus and hands them to the driver, who needs the tickets and times.
Lost property: laid out for collection. Kept for 2 months and then donated. CYC will not return items.
Return equipment clean, and set damaged equipment aside for the CYC Staff.
Leadership debrief (over afternoon tea): collect feedback and take notes for your camp report.
After Camp
Rest and be with the Lord!
Written camp report (template below) to the Camping Committee via the Ministry Coordinator: stand out leaders/leader concerns, Bible talk topics, positives, problems, new ideas, highs and lows, and recommendations. It's confidential and archived with the sign-in sheets, RAMS forms, accident reports, attendance lists and program.
Interested or newly committed campers: encourage a church or youth group, and tell CYC Staff about them.
Keep praying for campers and staff.
Resources
Let us know what you'd like to see on this ever-growing resource list!
Get in touch with us
Whether you have a general inquiry, you're interested in camps, accommodation, volunteering, partnering with us, or learning more about Christian Youth Camps Waihola, we look forward to hearing from you!