'Big kid' is all heart for the youngsters

Sometimes people can see something in you which you can't even see yourself. After being made redundant twice in his chosen careers of graphic design and then as a sports rep, South African Wayne Johnson was asked if he would be interested in owning the franchise of an after-school care programme.

"After being made redundant for the second time, I thought it would be good to have my own business. Being made redundant was a gift when I look back," says Johnson, though he admits it didn't seem like it at the time.

Johnson's new direction came through a friend of his father's. Dawn Engelbrecht, managing director of Safe Kids In Daily Supervision (SKIDS), knew him socially and noticed how good he was with her children during family visits.

SKIDS is an after-school care provider in 52 schools around the country.

Johnson has three of the franchises; Bucklands Beach, Mellons Bay and Papakura Central schools.

After-school care is based on the legal requirement for children up to age 14 to be supervised. The gap between work and school hours for working parents drives the business.

As the Government wants taxpaying parents to stay in work, it subsidises the service.

The SKIDS programme ensures homework gets done after school so children aren't doing it in the evenings.

The children, aged between 5 and 13, are given a nutritious snack, rest, exercise and mental stimulus.

Extra time is also given for slower learners in certain subjects.

Johnson was cautious about taking on the SKIDS franchise, deciding he would go and work at a few SKIDS schools and see what was involved.

"I had fun. I was building relationships with the kids. They weren't used to a male being around, I was joking around, picking up on them," he says.

The after-school care business fitted well with his interests in rugby, gym, swimming and kayaking - his athleticism comes in handy with his after-school business.

Johnson was used to playing a fatherly role from a young age.

His father left the family home when Wayne was 16 and, as the eldest of four boys, he looked after the younger ones. He watched his mother hold down four jobs to keep the household going.

"I identify a lot with the kids in my care who have no father figure," he says.

In 2008, Johnson became the owner of SKIDS at Bucklands Beach School, using the equity in his house to buy the franchise. Two years later, he took on his next one.

He hasn't looked back.

"I think often that I am still a kid at heart," said Johnson.

"You can muck around, joke a bit. When you go to work, you are being paid to play around.

"Yes, of course it's a huge responsibility looking after kids, looking after staff and training, but the main job of it is to have fun. I'm one of those (people) who can say I love my job.

"This is not a babysitting service.

"We have homework time, afternoon tea, then structured activities, from sports to science and technology and, arts and crafts.

"Every day is different, it might be baking on Friday, but sport the next Friday.

"After-school programmes have got to have the right procedure, but if you don't have the right staff, it is not going to work."

Johnson has a team of 12 part-timers and they care for more than 100 kids before and after school and holidays. "My staff range from 17 to 45 depending on which site they are at. We try and find staff through the staff already there," he says.

When a staff member puts a friend forward, they are careful about who they recommend.

"It's worked well," says Johnson. Staff have mandatory police checks every six months and are given first aid training.

Johnson has found children who act up in the programmes at first, thrive when they are given leadership roles.

"We give them a SKIDS monitor vest," he says. They are given tasks such as making sure all the balls are brought in.

One of the things Johnson pushes is good manners among the children. "The kids get points for washing up dishes. They are going home and offering to do dishes. The parents are delighted. "They ask us: 'What's going on? What are you doing?"'

With his three franchises and teaching swimming at another east Auckland school, Johnson is more than busy. To keep up with the administration side, he has hired a programme co-ordinator, to do all the paperwork. The former events planner gets to have some fun too - she works as one of the managers of Bucklands Beach SKIDS part time.

"I can concentrate on marketing, planning, building the business up, staff training, meetings and helping other franchises," says Johnson.

But Johnson still manages to spread himself around the three businesses. "I go to all three sites, I have built up relationships with the parents. I am the face of the business. I enjoy it."

The franchise owner markets SKIDS in school assemblies - he runs a competition where the whole school can win scooters and other prizes.

Johnson is also an enthusiastic promoter of SKIDS Plus, which are after-school activities in arts, drama, sports and dance, offered to any children in the school community.

"It's anything from hip hop, tennis, kick-boxing, chess, ballet. For those kids that don't need after-school care, we are offering something else."

Johnson is running a Zumba for kids class and a Zumba hip hop class for adults.

The businessman, who now has two little girls, is content that he is not wasting his previous qualifications. His graphic design skills are still highly relevant.

"I do all the design with the business, all the marketing, I'm doing what I was trained to do," he says. Johnson intends taking on a fourth SKIDS franchise when the opportunity arises.