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

Book your Summer Holiday Programmes Now! Spaces still available for everyday age group. Wednesday to Friday THIS WEEK, plus TWO WEEKS in January. Lots of cool activities and lots of memory making! Full Information and booking link on our website:

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

Rā Whakanui is back at the start of the December! Rā Whakanui is a programme that will run from 10am – 4pm on Tuesday the 10th and 10am – 6pm on Wednesday the 11th of December. We’ll start each day at Youth Alive Trust then head out on our day trips returning to our building between 3:30pm and 4pm on Tuesday & 5:30pm and 6pm on Wednesday.

Our capacity is up to 20 rangatahi for each day. The cost is $30 for both days, sign up and come along!

Our Surge kaimahi Jayden, Finn & Emily will be facilitating Rā Whakanui with the support of a team of volunteers.

Check out the Rā Whakanui page for the broghure and click on the ‘Download other info’ button to download our Taiohi TWP Risk Waiver Form. This is a permission form that needs to be filled out by a parent or guardian in order for us to take your rangatahi out on the water for Waka Ama.

Tuesday December 10th will be a day trip to Lyttleton Harbour.

We’ll be heading out to Lyttleton to do Waka Ama with Te Wai Pounamu Waka Experience.
Afterwards we’ll do some chill activities around the city.

Wednesday December 11th will be a day trip to Hanmer Springs.

Whanaunga in the morning, lunch stop in Culverden and hot pools in the afternoon.
Bring your own lunch and a water bottle, or some money to buy lunch in Culverden.
Make sure you have your togs as well!

Contact Jayden (jayden.wall@yat.org.nz) for more information.

Tonight we celebrated the Graduation of Jayden & Finn, completing their Level 6 NZ Diploma in Youth Work with Praxis. Both of these young men first attended YAT programmes in their primary school years, before later joining as young volunteers, then casual staff, and are now in permanent staff roles. They have completed their full-time study, alongside their employment, which is a massive undertaking and are both ready for a summer break! The young people they serve through Surge, Tamatāne Boys Club, Holiday Programmes, the YLT and in Shirley Boys High School through 24-7 Youthwork have seen your dedication to doing things well and right, while having fun at the same time. Thank you both for all you’ve given to our communities and we pray blessings upon your next steps, as you continue to grow in both knowledge and wisdom.

We are honoured to be one the founding charities benefiting from the work of @Upstream. We caught up recently with the other charity managers. Mitch and his team saw the need for sustainable funding for youth charities like ours, and tapped into business connections and networking to bring both more sales for businesses, and a slice of that for youth charities. It is growing every year, and with decreasing income from other grant givers, it’s a lifeline we need. Are you a business owner or decision maker that could make use of Upstream suppliers – because that will benefit us too! Get in touch or find out more at: www.upstream.co.nz