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Social Skills Services
Where kids find their tribe
Find Their Tribe
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Build friends with others who understand them
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Feel safe, included and supported
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Learn how to create and maintain friendships
Understand Others
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Recognise social cues and perspectives
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Understand different ways people communicate
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Navigate teamwork and social situation
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Build Self-esteem
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Grow confidence and resilience
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Strengthen communication skills
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Build self-belief in social settings
Locations
Our After-School groups are held across 3 locations:
Rolleston
The Community Room at the Selwyn Aquatic Centre
71 Broadlands Drive, Rolleston
Christchurch
Talk Together Office
79 Durham Street South, Sydenham, Christchurch
Online
Our In-School support services are carried out at your child's school
Our one-to-one support can take place online, in our clinic or at your location of choice.
Our programs
Our programs support both neurodiverse and neurotypical individuals.
Parents and students have described Talk Together groups as neuroaffirming, and setting kids/teens up in safe ways for the world they are going to experience.
We couldn't put it better ourselves!
We support children, teens and young adults to gain social skills meaningful to them in 3 main ways:
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After-school social support groups
(Groups for 5-18 year olds) and Young Adult Community Group (16+ years) -
In-school social support groups (Primary and Intermediate aged students)
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One-to-one support sessions (all ages)
The overarching themes below are focused on throughout all of our programs:
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Communication skills
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Forming and maintaining friendships
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Seeing things from other's perspectives
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Resilience & confidence development
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Emotional regulation (learning about, recognising and managing our emotions in healthy ways)
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Team work
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Conflict resolution skills
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Identifying other people's social cues
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Leadership skills
Each and every service is tailored to the individuals attending. Student participation, comfort and achievements are constantly observed and plans are altered throughout the term (even within sessions!) to cater for the specific individuals in front of us- their needs and their goals.
5-9 years - Social Skills Groups
Setting social skills up for life is our aim here!
Children learn to recognise their role (and contributions) to group tasks, navigate friendship dynamics, see and understand things from others perspectives & develop skills to work effectively in a group.
This is a 6 week programme
Christchurch
Sydenham
5:00pm - 6.00pm
Thursdays/Weekly
Rolleston
4:40pm - 5:20pm
5:30pm - 6:10pm
Tuesdays/Weekly
Online
5:00pm - 5:45pm
Mondays/Weekly
10-13 years - Social Skills Groups
This is the age where things get complicated!
There is often a need to 'read the social scene' in situations that in the past were very 'black & white'.
Our focus here is a smooth transition for kids through this phase and robust skills for making friends and 'keeping up' with the social challenges faced while building self confidence.
This is a 6 week programme
Christchurch
Sydenham
6:10pm - 6.50pm
7:00pm - 7:40pm
Thursdays/Weekly
Rolleston
6:20pm - 7:20pm
Tuesdays/Weekly
Online
6:00pm - 6:45pm
Mondays/Weekly
14+ years - Social Skills Groups
This group has a big social focus with the students having lots of input into the groups direction & content.
Half of each session is a more structured facilitator led topic area and the other half focuses on friendship building, maintaining & navigating different social contexts through a variety of activities. For those in the middle & second part of high school.
This is a 6 week programme
Christchurch
Sydenham
7:.30pm - 8.30pm
Thursdays/Weekly
Rolleston
7:30pm - 8:30pm
Tuesdays/Weekly
Online
7:00pm - 7:45pm
Mondays/Weekly
Young Adults & Teens Social Skills Group
This is a monthly catch up to make and maintain friendships.
Think monthly book club or social catch up with a social, supportive vibe. This community offers a sense of belonging and builds confidence as well as friendships, for older teens and young adults.
These monthly 1 hour sessions happen in the community and are facilitated by the Talk Together team. Locations alternate between Christchurch City & Rolleston and locations are near public transport routes.
Contact us for more information & membership pricing
Christchurch
Sydenham
7:.30pm - 8.30pm
Wednesday/Monthly
Rolleston
7:30pm - 8:30pm
Wednesday/Monthly
Social Skills Support Enrollment Request
Pathways & Pricing
All New students joining us at Talk Together have an initial new student session. New student sessions ensure kids get the absolute most out of their time with us
In this session we:
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Get to know the student, their interests and strengths.
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Understand student's current challenges and set some next step goals they would like to achieve.
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Provide a next step or challenge to focus on at home right away.
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Make a recommendation for the best way we can support the student's social communication journey.
This could be an After-School group, setting up an In-School group or a one-to-one session. As students achieve goals they may end up swapping between services- our main aim is always tailored support that achieves supportive results.
The new student session can occur online or in the community.
A caregiver or support person is always required for this session.
Contact us to get our info pack for details!
Our programs are perfect for returning students!
While you are welcome to attend one program at Talk Together in isolation, many of our students are returning. We see the biggest successes and changes in our returning students.
Understanding others, building self belief and extending social skills takes practise and returning students are extended as their skills develop within our program. Our programs are perfect for returning students as overall themes stay the same but how we achieve these are always changing.
In fact- 1/2 to 3/4 of the students in any Talk Together group are returning students! We are so proud of our returning students who feel a real sense of belonging at Talk Together and are always so welcoming to new students!
Pricing
We work hard at Talk Together to run all of our Social Communication supports as cost effectively as possible for families without sacrificing quality or expertiese.
Carer support and Individualised funding can be used for all of our Social Communication services.
Contact us for an information pack, including all prices.