OSCAR accreditation resources-Te Kāhui Kāhu

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About OSCAR

Out of School Care and Recreation (OSCAR) providers deliver before and after school care, holiday programmes and camps. This is for children attending school up to the age of 13 (or children aged up to 18 years if they are eligible to receive a Child Disability Allowance).

Te Kāhui Kāhu is unable to provide any assurances for OSCAR services delivered by organisations who do not have accreditation.

Accreditation Standards for OSCAR providers

Applications for OSCAR accreditation

To become accredited, an OSCAR provider needs to be able to meet:

Level 3 Social Sector Accreditation Standards

Level 3 Specialist Accreditation Standard: Out of School Care and Recreation (OSCAR) programmes

Where applicable, OSCAR providers will also have to meet:

Level 3 Specialist Accreditation Standard: Outdoor Pursuits and camp programmes for children and young people

Apply for Level 3 OSCAR accreditation

Level 3 OSCAR adding a programme delivery site application form

Level 3 OSCAR adding a service type application form

Level 3 OSCAR sole charge exemption application form

Level 3 Home-based OSCAR Accreditation Application Form

OSCAR Accreditation Processes

Eligibility check

Applying for accreditation

Maintaining accreditation

OSCAR – new sites and services

Apply for an OSCAR sole charge exemption

Ceasing to operate an OSCAR programme

If you no longer want to run your OSCAR programme, you will need to let us know. Find out how to relinquish your accreditation below:

Relinquish your accreditation

You may also want to contact Work and Income about subsidies and grants so that you do not incur a debt.

OSCAR sole charge exemptions

A sole charge application is for an exemption to the supervision requirements of the OSCAR accreditation standard.

The standard requires a minimum of two staff members to effectively supervise children at all times. An exemption allows the programme to operate with one staff member, with no more than ten children attending at any one time.

An exemption may be considered for a specific programme delivered by an accredited OSCAR provider, and a site visit may be required.

Only OSCAR before and after school care programmes are eligible. An exemption will not be given to holiday programmes or camps.

The provider must provide evidence that shows how the safety of staff and children will be maintained. They must meet and continue to meet the requirements of the Level 3 Social Sector Accreditation Standards, and the Out of School Care and Recreation (OSCAR) standard.

An exemption is programme specific. The exemption does not allow discretion for sole charge to be used on selected days.

If a provider wants to operate an additional programme after being granted a sole charge exemption, an additional application must be made.

Apply for OSCAR sole charge exemption

Click here to apply for an OSCAR sole charge exemption

Ending a sole charge exemption

Please advise us at accreditation@tekahuikahu.govt.nz if a sole charge exemption is no longer required.

This means the service must return to the usual supervision requirements of the specialist standard: Out of School Care and Recreation.

Home-based OSCAR programmes

If your organisation wants to deliver its OSCAR programme from home, there is additional criteria that you need to meet:

Accredited home-based /OSCAR providers must be licensed by the Ministry of Education (MoE) to operate these services.
Home-based OSCAR providers undergo an assessment process that takes into account that they have already met MOE’s licensing criteria. There are still accreditation requirements that you need to meet before becoming accredited. These requirements must be met as well as having an assessment review.