Opening a new OSCAR centre

Get ahead of the game as an after school care provider with our top 5 tips for centre success.

1. What's your BHAG? 

BHAG stands for "big hairy audacious goal" and while having one is not essential, you do need clarity about what it is you are trying to achieve...and a big vision often helps! Having a one-sentence mission, goal or outcome in mind helps you prioritise your limited resources, make better decisions, and focus your activity on what will make the biggest difference. If your only reason for being is "there's no programme in my area", your daily decision-making, performance and motivation will suffer.

If you lack outdoor space you can still grow seeds indoors—or even challenge yourselves to solve the problem of urbanisation by using the space and resources you've got to grow and harvest the most nourishing and highest yield food. Make a meal to share from the produce, or take it home to provide for the family

2. Do your homework  

Passion will get you a long way, but passion with knowledge is unstoppable. Even if you don't plan to become Ministry of Social Development (MSD) Approved, knowing and following the MSD Standards will give you confidence that all your bases are covered and you are running a best-practice programme. If you become MSD Approved to offer the OSCAR Fee Subsidy from WINZ, learn the subsidy process inside out to make administration as seamless as possible for you and your families.  

3. Plan for the practicalities

Run your programme offering through this easy OSCAR Feasibility Checklist to make sure you've thought of everything and ticked off all the daily details to make things run smoothly. 

4. Teamwork makes the dream work  

OSCAR programmes, like any entrepreneurial venture, are often run on almost nothing but the grit and energy of the person in charge—you. Money is tight, resources are tight, and it can sometimes feel like everything is up to you and there is just not enough of you to go around!  

Whether you have an actual OSCAR team or not, recruit people to support you and—the crucial key—use them. You need someone to vent to, someone to bounce ideas off, someone to add additional perspectives and expertise, and someone to help you make decisions, even if it is only by lending a listening ear. Whether it's your partner, best mate, a business mentor, a colleague or all of the above, a network of people you know have your back will help you bring your best self to the task, even on your worst day.

5. Get after school care software

We might be biased, but we've also got great evidence that after school care software makes a huge difference to OSCAR programme success hundreds of happy customers! Check out how after school care software helps people like you, straight from the horse's mouth.

Ready for easy OSCAR admin?