Kia Ora,

Our Easter Holiday Programme bookings are now LIVE!!! It is a 4 day week, because of Good Friday, and we only operate in Week 1.

BUT ALSO, we’re running a Teacher-Only-Day Fun Day on Friday 11^th April, for schools such as Rawhiti Primary, New Brighton Catholic and Hillview Christian School. This day will run from 8:30am – 3:00pm and will involve all ages, games, and a trip to Move-X. The cost is $45 and WINZ subsidies will apply as normal.

You can register for all these days online now!

• Kea (School Years 1-3) – including a trip up the Gondola, to QE2 Gymnastics and lots of games!!
• Pukeko (School Years 4-6) – including a trip to Willowbank, Dudley Pool and a Nerf War!!
• Piwakawaka (School Years 6-9) – including a trip to Birdlings Flat, Zone Bowling and the Brain Play Team!!

Website link:

www.yat.org.nz/holiday-programmes/holiday-programme-years-1-9/

UPDATE: Children in School Year 6, can book for either Piwakawaka or Pukeko. This is to encourage those feeling too old for Pukeko and to help with the transition for those going into that age group next year anyway. Please chose one of the other, not both programmes in the same week though.

Note: Activities are subject to change, due to weather, staffing or other circumstances.

Priority Bookings

Youth Alive Trust are only accepting bookings from previous families who have registered for our programmes in the past 12 months up until 12noon Wednesday 12^th March. This is to provide time for our regulars to make a booking, so they don’t miss out. After 12noon Wednesday, we will accept bookings from anyone else.

Oscar Subsidy

Check out if you’re eligible for government subsidies.  If you have 3 or more children, you now need to be earning more than $2,902 per week to not be eligible for any support. If you have 2 children, you need to be earning more than $2,579 per week and if just 1 child, $2,257 per week (gross).  This is a dramatic increase and many probably don’t realise they will qualify, if they just jump through a few bits of paperwork. The subsidy is only for those in work or study who need childcare. Click on the link below for full information about applying for the subsidy:

Out of School Care and Recreation (OSCAR) Subsidy – Work and Income

Booking Confirmation Policy

If you click that you’re applying for a government subsidy, then YAT’s policy is to only ‘confirm’ your booking once we’ve received your completed WINZ forms. We need to sign your form, so this can be dropped off at reception anytime in office hours, and we can send the paperwork to WINZ for you. OR, once we’ve signed it, we can take a copy, in case WINZ loose it (which does happen) and you can take it all into WINZ yourself.

Your booking will sit in the ‘Pending’ category for a week, until we’ve seen the paperwork. If we’ve not seen the paperwork, there is a chance your booking will be cancelled unless you get in touch to explain circumstances: rego@yat.org.nz

A reminder that you and we often don’t find out about how much WINZ will contribute to your holiday programme fees until after the programme, so you are responsible for any shortfall to be paid as soon as possible.

Bookings

All Bookings are done online at: https://yat.aimyplus.com

Here’s a reminder of how to make a booking after logging in:

– Click on ‘Make a booking’

– Select childs name

– Choose Programme Venue: ‘Youth Alive Oscar’

– Select ‘Holiday Programme’ & click ‘Next’

– If booking for the Teacher-Only-Day, select ‘Special Day’. You will need to make a separate booking for this day and holiday programme days.

– If booking for holiday programmes, select ‘April Holidays 2025’.

– Select the programme appropriate to your child’s age & select all the days you want to book

– Click ‘Next’, ’Next’ and ’Finish’

There are 3 options for payment at the time of booking:

1. Bank Transfer (no fee for you). Please reference ‘HP’ and ‘Your Name’
2. Visa or Mastercard – Credit or Visa Debit (2.5%)
3. WINZ Client. You will need to input your client number into your profile before choosing this option. As above, it will stay ‘PENDING’ for a week until we have signed the paperwork.

2025 Holiday Programmes

14^th – 17^th April 2025

30^th June – 4^th July 2025

22^nd – 26^th September 2025

Pre-Christmas 2025 (tbc)

Any issues or questions about programmes, registrations or cancelations, please email us at: rego@yat.org.nz

Any finance questions, please email us at: accounts@yat.org.nz

We know a number of local schools have a Teacher Only Day on the final day of term, such as Rāwhiti School, New Brighton Catholic School and Hillview Christian School – so we’re running a one-off Friday Fun Day including a trip to Move-X! Book through our normal online registration: https://yat.aimyplus.com/

Starting Tuesday – and it’s not too late to join! Building Awesome Whānau Parenting Couse is full of practical ideas and encouraging stories to equip and empower you to see your dream for your whānau become a reality! Join our Mana Ake team as they lead this 6 week journey on Tuesday mornings from 9:30 – 11:30am at Beach Campus, in New Brighton. Email: dani.boxall@yat.org.nz to register or with any questions.

https://parentingplace.nz/courses/building-awesome-whanau

Check out these Popsicle Soaps made by todays Craft Club! Yum!

Another amazing Kite Day in New Brighton! Perfect weather, great crowds, and privileged to be fundraising for our programmes in 2025! Thanks to all our helpers and thanks again to Peter Lynn Kites for partnering with us again!

Registrations for all our after-school clubs are LIVE for 2025!! There are a few changes this year, including moving Kitchen Klub and Basketball Clubs to Tuesdays, and a new club for creative teenagers keen on singing and dancing called RISE! Clubs begin from Monday 10th February, and full term plans and brochures will be uploaded to our website soon. You can book now for Term 1 and every other Term too at: https://yatclubs.aimyplus.com

> Seniors After-School Oscar (School Years 4-9) EVERYDAY with Van Pick Ups 2:45pm – 5:45pm

> Basketball Clubs (School Years 1 – 8) Change: Tuesdays

• 3:15pm – 4:05pm (School Years 1-3)
• 4:15pm – 5:05pm (School Years 3-6)
• 5:15pm – 6:05pm (School Years 6-8)

> Kitchen Klub (School Years 5 – 9) Change: Tuesdays 4:00pm – 5:30pm

> Kōtirotiro Girls Club (School Years 1 – 6) Wednesdays 4:00pm – 5:30pm

> Tamatāne Boys Club (School Years 1 – 6) Thursdays 4:00pm – 5:30pm

> Craft Club (School Years 5 – 9) Thursdays 4:00pm – 5:30pm

> Rock Solid (School Years 7 & 8) Fridays 4:00-6:00pm

> Surge (School Years 9 – 13) Mondays 6:30-8:30pm. FREE for teenagers

> #NEW: RISE (ages 12-17) Mondays 6:30pm – 8:00pm.  FREE for teenagers

> Amplify Music Lessons (School Years 1-13) Everyday 3pm – 6pm

> Amplify Band Programme (School Years 7-13) various times by audition

What a year it has been at Oscar! We loved seeing many of you at our end of year celebration and ended the year with 3 sweet days of holiday programmes last week. It’s great to have Shelly back from her maternity leave and it was planned perfectly for when Hannah started on her own maternity leave! Sadly we’re saying goodbye to Esther, our Friday Oscar coordinator, who has found a job in a law firm as she finishes her legal studies.  Here are a few updates and changes for next year:

• Kitchen Klub and Basketball Club will be moving from Mondays to Tuesdays. This is due to staffing and programming reasons. We hope this still suits your families!
• If your child did Kitchen Klub in Term 4, CLICK HERE to download the Recipe Book for your holiday enjoyment!
• Mondays will be our ‘outing’ day. We think this will suit the young people better after their first day back at school, to blow away the cobwebs and get into the anticipated sunshine at a local park. We will still be back by 4:30pm for those needing early pick up.
• Our new final pick up time will be 5.45pm. Only rarely does someone get picked up after this time anyway, and it helps our staff with their own working schedules and getting home to their own families.
• We are continuing to offer our Oscar for School Years 4-9, even though we’ve had big discussions around decreasing the age. At present, we don’t have the resources, space and capacity to heavily increase our programme numbers, and this age range really does suit the special relationships and activities we run. We are open to making exceptions for siblings on a case by case basis.

We love being able to give you a quality programme for an affordable cost, but we have had to increase the prices of our after school care to cover the increasing costs of the programme. We have done an analysis of other after school Oscar providers and believe we still offer the best value for money!  The new pricing will be as follow:

– Half Day 2:45pm – 4.30pm $15.00

– Full Day 2:45pm – 5.45pm $20.00

– Full Week, Half Days $75.00

– Full week, Full Days $100.00

We do offer WINZ subsidies and encourage you to apply. Most are eligible and you can see if you are at: www.workandincome.govt.nz/products/a-z-benefits/oscar-subsidy.html

Please see Shelly if you need any help applying for this.

Bookings are already available for 2025, so log online now to make your bookings. The easiest place to do this is the Aimyplus App called ‘AimyMe’. Download the app by visiting the app store on your mobile device and search for AimyMe. Once installed, log in with your existing aimyPlus Parent Portal logins, and you’ll have instant access to the app.

2025 DATES

Our first day back at Oscar will be Thursday 30th January 2025.  All our staff on away on a beginning of the year retreat from Monday to Wednesday, for planning, envisioning and team building.  Please note, Oscar bookings do not automatically roll over each term.

CLICK HERE to read our 2025 Oscar Flyer. We’d love it if you could share your experience with another parent who needs after school care, which could really help our numbers.

Remember the quickest and easiest way to contact OSCAR is through the OSCAR phone, so do text it if you need to make any changes or updates. Please save it into your cell phone now, as whoever is coordinating that day, will have access to the phone: 020 4152 0494  or non urgent matters can be emailed to Shelly: oscar@yat.org.nz

Reminder that Holiday Programmes are in January for two weeks and spaces are still available every day!

Pukeko (School Years 4-6) – including a trip to Aqualand, 10 Pin Bowling and Ninja Valley!!

Piwakawaka (School Years 6-9) – including a trip to an Escape Room, Ninja Valley and Jelly Park!!

Website link:

www.yat.org.nz/holiday-programmes/holiday-programme-years-1-9

Finally, you are invited the Grace Vineyard Community Christmas Carols on Christmas Eve at 5pm at New Brighton Pier! It’s a great way to bring in the special day for all the family!

We hope everyone has a wonderful holiday break and enjoys their Christmas.

We look forward to seeing you all in the New Year and hearing all the holiday stories.

Nga Mahi

Shelly, Henry & The YAT Team

www.yat.org.nz

Our office is closed for a summer break now, after 3 sweet days of holiday programmes last week. See Photos HERE. Emails will be checked on occasions for anything urgent.

Summer Holiday Programmes run from 13^th – 24^th January 2025 and spaces are currently still available every day in every age range.

• Kea (School Years 1-3) – including a trip to Inflatable World, Dudley Pool and lots of games!!
• Pukeko (School Years 4-6) – including a trip to Aqualand, 10 Pin Bowling and Ninja Valley!!
• Piwakawaka (School Years 6-9) – including a trip to an Escape Room, Ninja Valley and Jelly Park!!

Those in transitioning years can chose either programme for the January programme. However, we don’t allow people to pick and chose their programme according to the activity – please stick to the same programme for the whole two weeks to help develop friendships and connections, and allow others the opportunities for the special days too. We do offer WINZ subsidies and encourage you to apply. Most are eligible and you can see if you are at: www.workandincome.govt.nz/products/a-z-benefits/oscar-subsidy.html

The easiest place to make a booking is the Aimyplus App called ‘AimyMe’. Download the app by visiting the app store on your mobile device and search for AimyMe. Once installed, log in with your existing aimyPlus Parent Portal logins, and you’ll have instant access to the app. Or just use the normal website login: https://yat.aimyplus.com/

Further info at: www.youthalivetrust.org.nz/holiday-programmes/holiday-programme-years-1-9

2025 OSCAR

If your child needs after-school care, have you considered using the YAT Senior OSCAR programme??  CLICK HERE to read the 2025 Oscar Flyer. Enrolment automatically gets you into the clubs that are running that day as well as a school pick up. We are moving Kitchen Klub and Basketball Clubs to Tuesdays in 2025! There is also WINZ subsidies, the same as Holiday Programmes, and most are eligible if you’re wiling to jump through a few hoops. We can help: oscar@yat.org.nz
Finally, you are invited the Grace Vineyard Community Christmas Carols on Christmas Eve  at 5pm at New Brighton Pier! It’s a great way to bring in the special day for all the family!

Wishing you and your whanau a special Christmas and refreshing summer break.

Nga Mahi

The YAT Team

www.yat.org.nz