About our workshops and professional development

Working in an after school care or school holiday programme can be both a challenging and very rewarding role. Our workshops aim to help staff approach their work skillfully and with a good grounding in what really matters when working with children in an OSCAR setting.

Our straight-forward guidelines and tips are drawn from our long experience in supporting OSCAR services. There are also frequent opportunities for discussion and questions, allowing participants to share their own insights and ideas. 

Staff will leave a workshop feeling confident, inspired and more connected to the OSCAR sector and our profession. They also receive a certificate to recognise their professional development and will take away useful written material.

“Trying to condense all the ideas we received …could not do justice to our 3 hour workshop ...there were many heads nodding knowingly, mumblings of acknowledgement, stories shared. It was a very familiar pattern of how much we really needed this.” 

READ MORE: What are the training requirements for OSCAR staff?

 

We schedule courses on a term by term basis and aim to release new dates near the end of each term. We regularly offer courses in the following regions, spread over the year: Auckland, Bay of Plenty, Waikato, Hawkes Bay, Palmerston North and Wellington. We may be able to hold courses in other regions, so please get in touch. 

We have also started on-line networking sessions which are proving to be a very valuable alternative for connecting people and sharing knowledge.   

Current workshop dates are listed below, as details become available     

All our courses are outlined here 

If you can't see a particular course on offer?  Please get in touch for likely dates in the future.

  • Tuesday 25 February

  • Keeping your cool: responding to challenging behaviour - Onehunga, Auckland
    Venue: Oranga Community Centre, 52C Waitangi Road, Oranga. This workshop will provide staff with more tools and understanding for dealing with challenging behaviours. Cost: OSCN members: $55-00 per person, Non-members: $90-00 per person.
    Date: Tue 25 Feb 2025
    Time: 10:00 AM - 01:00 PM (10+ spaces left) Book Event

  • Tuesday 4 March

  • OSCAR safeguarding and child protection - Auckland
    Venue: Oranga Community Centre, 52C Waitangi Road, Oranga. Safeguarding and child protection knowledge and skills needed to identify and respond to child well-being and safety concerns. Cost: OSCN members: $65-00 per person, Non-members: $95-00 per person.
    Date: Tue 04 Mar 2025
    Time: 10:00 AM - 01:00 PM (10+ spaces left) Book Event

  • Wednesday 5 March

  • WEBINAR: OSCAR safeguarding for managers, owners and senior staff
    Safeguarding and child protection topics from the perspective of being a person who leads or responds to child safety concerns. $55-00 per person, Non-members $80-00 per person
    Date: Wed 05 Mar 2025
    Time: 10:00 AM - 01:00 PM (10+ spaces left) Book Event

  • Tuesday 11 March

  • ADHD in OSCAR - Christchurch
    Venue: Rārākau, Riccarton Centre, 199 Clarence Street, Riccarton, Christchurch A very informative workshop that offers a hopeful and positive look into the world of the child with ADHD. Cost: OSCN members: $55-00 per person, Non-members: $90-00 per person
    Date: Tue 11 Mar 2025
    Time: 10:00 AM - 01:00 PM (10+ spaces left) Book Event

  • Wednesday 19 March

  • Webinar – After the bell: programming for after school care
    An OSCN on-line event. An introduction to the main characteristics of after school care: routines, activities, schedules. Cost: OSCN members $45-00 per person, ($120-00 per programme site); Non-members $70-00 per person.
    Date: Wed 19 Mar 2025
    Time: 10:00 AM - 01:00 PM (10+ spaces left) Book Event

  • Tuesday 25 March

  • OSCAR safeguarding and child protection - Gisborne
    Venue: Awapuni School, 129 Awapuni Rd, Gisborne. Safeguarding and child protection knowledge and skills needed to identify and respond to child well-being and safety concerns. Cost: OSCN members: $65-00 per person, Non-members: $95-00 per person.
    Date: Tue 25 Mar 2025
    Time: 10:00 AM - 01:00 PM (10+ spaces left) Book Event

  • Wednesday 26 March

  • OSCAR safeguarding and child protection - Napier
    Venue: Napier Napier Cricket Pavilion 35 Jull Street, Napier. Safeguarding and child protection knowledge and skills needed to identify and respond to child well-being and safety concerns. Cost: OSCN members: $65-00 per person, Non-members: $95-00 per person.
    Date: Wed 26 Mar 2025
    Time: 10:00 AM - 01:00 PM (10+ spaces left) Book Event

  • Tuesday 6 May

  • First aid for OSCAR - short course - Onehunga, Auckland
    Venue: Oranga Community Centre, 52 Waitangi Road, Oranga, Auckland. This course covers the common accidents in the playground plus it looks at typical medical conditions and how best to deal with them. The course is very practical and hands-on. Cost: OSCN members: $65-00 per person, Non-members: $90-00 per person.
    Date: Tue 06 May 2025
    Time: 10:00 AM - 12:30 PM (10+ spaces left) Book Event

  • Thursday 8 May

  • Webinar – Behaviour guidance in OSCAR
    An OSCN on-line event. An overview of positive behaviour guidance and how to effectively respond to common behaviour problems that occur in OSCAR services. Cost: OSCN members $45-00 per person, ($120-00 per programme site); Non-members $70-00 per person.
    Date: Thu 08 May 2025
    Time: 10:00 AM - 01:00 PM (10+ spaces left) Book Event

  • Tuesday 13 May

  • "Who's in Control" - Working with children in groups - Onehunga, Auckland
    Venue: Oranga Community Centre, 52 Waitangi Road, Onehunga, Auckland. This workshop session is aimed at helping staff to develop effective practices in group management. We use games, scenarios and interactive discussion to highlight the basics of keeping control. Cost: OSCN members: $55-00 per person, Non-members: $90-00 per person.
    Date: Tue 13 May 2025
    Time: 10:00 AM - 01:30 PM (10+ spaces left) Book Event

  • Thursday 15 May

  • Webinar: Doing our own thing - programming for older children
    An OSCN on-line event. This session will look at how programmes can adapt to the older age group. Cost: OSCN members $45-00 per person, ($120-00 per programme site); Non-members $70-00 per person.
    Date: Thu 15 May 2025
    Time: 10:00 AM - 01:00 PM (10+ spaces left) Book Event

  • Tuesday 20 May

  • "Give it a go" - Easy activities and helping kids to join in - Onehunga, Auckland
    Venue: Oranga Community Centre, 52 Waitangi Road, Onehunga, Auckland. A hands-on workshop that lets you try some different, easy activities and learn more about what happens when kids are deciding to join in. Cost: OSCN members: $55-00 per person, Non-members: $90-00 per person.
    Date: Tue 20 May 2025
    Time: 10:00 AM - 01:00 PM (10+ spaces left) Book Event

  • Wednesday 21 May

  • ADHD in OSCAR - Hamilton
    Venue: 43 Church Road, Te Rapa Sportsdrome, Pukete, Hamilton. A very informative workshop that offers a hopeful and positive look into the world of the child with ADHD. Cost: OSCN members: $55-00 per person, Non-members: $90-00 per person
    Date: Wed 21 May 2025
    Time: 10:00 AM - 01:00 PM (10+ spaces left) Book Event

  • Tuesday 27 May

  • ADHD in OSCAR - Onehunga Auckland
    Venue: Oranga Community Centre, 52 Waitangi Road, Onehunga, Auckland. A very informative workshop that offers a hopeful and positive look into the world of the child with ADHD. Cost: OSCN members: $55-00 per person, Non-members: $90-00 per person
    Date: Tue 27 May 2025
    Time: 10:00 AM - 01:00 PM (10+ spaces left) Book Event

  • Thursday 29 May

  • Webinar - Safe OSCAR - supervision and safety essentials
    An OSCN on-line event. This is a practical and informative 3-hour course that gives your staff an overview of typical safety and supervision duties. We make the topic accessible & interesting for everyone. Cost: OSCN members $45-00 per person, ($120-00 per programme site); Non-members $70-00 per person.
    Date: Thu 29 May 2025
    Time: 10:00 AM - 01:00 PM (10+ spaces left) Book Event

  • Wednesday 4 June

  • ADHD in OSCAR - Wellington
    Venue: Smash Club, 170 Karori Road, Karori, Wellington. A very informative workshop that offers a hopeful and positive look into the world of the child with ADHD. Cost: OSCN members: $55-00 per person, Non-members: $90-00 per person
    Date: Wed 04 Jun 2025
    Time: 10:00 AM - 01:00 PM (10+ spaces left) Book Event

  • Thursday 5 June

  • OSCAR safeguarding and child protection - Wellington
    Venue: Belmont Memorial Hall, 709 Western Hutt Rd, Belmont, Lower Hutt. Safeguarding and child protection knowledge and skills needed to identify and respond to child well-being and safety concerns. Cost: OSCN members: $65-00 per person, Non-members: $95-00 per person.
    Date: Thu 05 Jun 2025
    Time: 10:00 AM - 01:00 PM (10+ spaces left) Book Event

In House Workshops

Building OSCAR programme capability and a positive programme culture

We have seen very positive outcomes from bringing all your staff together for professional development that is focussed on your programme.  Sessions range from 2-5 hours.  Choose a topic, time and location and we'll bring a workshop to you.

We have a lot of topics that can be combined to meet your requirements; these are a few of our more popular options (click on these for more information):

- Safe and Sound  safety and behaviour guidance essentials

- Keeping Your Cool   effective discipline techniques & challenging behaviour

- Here to Care   effective supervision practices, duty of care, MSD Standards

- Tuning into Children   building confidence in activity leadership

- Working Together   professional boundaries in OSCAR


PRICING: a 2-hour package starts from $300-00 for up to 14 people. Handouts provided and we issue certificates to all participants. Additional fees apply for larger groups/ longer sessions and for travel to locations outside of Auckland. We can customise a workshop to fit with your time frame and the training needs of your team.

Workshops out of Auckland need a 2-3 month lead in time to co-ordinate travel. We regret that we can only make this offer to organisations based in the North Island.

In-house workshops are only available to current OSCN members.

Contact OSCN for more information