Sanity check - Primary classes and 12-year-olds

Is it correct for a child to remain in the primary class roster after they turn 12?

It would appear so, since the rule for a Valiant-11 class would generally be written to allow children who turn 12 during the year.

So should I expect the children leaving primary to remain on the roles or should I expect to have to manually remove them?

geek wrote:Is it correct for a child to remain in the primary class roster after they turn 12?

It would appear so, since the rule for a Valiant-11 class would generally be written to allow children who turn 12 during the year.

So should I expect the children leaving primary to remain on the roles or should I expect to have to manually remove them?

From the Sunday Primary page on lds.org, under Serving in the Church, Primary:

Children who turn 12 during the year continue to attend their Primary class until the following January. However, during Primary sharing time they begin attending their Aaronic Priesthood quorum meeting or Young Women class.

So for the remainder of the calendar year in which they turn 12, children attend Primary during the Sunday School block, so yes, they would stay on the class rolls. However, an interesting note is that even though 12 year olds continue to attend Primary classes, they are no longer counted as attending Primary on the Quarterly Report (which clearly states that you only count children up through age 11). Instead they are counted only as attending Young Men / Young Women.

The Church Handbook of Instructions says the same thing, that when they turn 12 they immediately begin attending their Aaronic Priesthood quorum meeting or Young Women class during Primary sharing time. However, during Sunday School they continue to attend the Primary Valiant 12 class until the end of the year.

Technically, a Primary child who turns 12 moves from the Valiant class to the Sunday School class. The Sunday School class is the same class taught by the same teacher, the Primary teacher. He or she also begins attending priesthood or YW meeting.

It is easy to lose track of the Sunday School part because tracking of Sunday School attendance is no longer required on the quarterly report.

lajackson wrote:Technically, a Primary child who turns 12 moves from the Valiant class to the Sunday School class. The Sunday School class is the same class taught by the same teacher, the Primary teacher. He or she also begins attending priesthood or YW meeting.

Maybe this is saying the same thing, but the way you worded it is confusing. It is explained clearly and simply in this FAQ from lds.org:

How can we arrange our Primary schedule so the children turning 12 can go to their Young Women classes and Aaronic Priesthood quorum meetings?

The Primary schedule should be arranged so sharing time is held at the same time as Young Women classes and Aaronic Priesthood quorum meetings.

When children turn 12 years old, they attend their Young Women classes and Aaronic Priesthood quorum meetings during sharing time.

They continue to attend the Primary Valiant 12 class during Sunday School time until the end of the year. (See Church Handbook of Instructions, Book 2, 235.)

jbh001 wrote:Maybe this is saying the same thing, but the way you worded it is confusing.

You are right. Ignore the Sunday School part. It was always confusing when they did it that way, anyway. The important thing is that they stay in the same class with the Primary teacher, usually during the middle hour, and then attend priesthood or Young Women, during either the first or third hour, depending on the unit schedule.

Middle hour? Sunday School is only 40 minutes.

(It's surprising how many members don't realize that it's not 3 blocks of one hour each.)

RussellHltn wrote:Middle hour?

Ok, ok. Middle 40 minutes. And then either the first 50 minutes if you are on Plan 1, or the last 50 minutes if you are on Plan 2.

Me, I am on Plan 9. :rolleyes:

However, I am sure you also know that even these numbers may not be correct, because the exact timing of breaks between meetings is flexible according to local needs.