Hello Milestone!
From Choklits Owner, Jade Ingleby (September 12th, 2022)
Hello Milestone!!
As emailed, we are taking over Milestone Childcare & Kindergarten from Alyssa and the owners Colin and Dave on September 21st this month. We are super excited to be working with the educators currently at the centre and bringing our Choklits brand to you all at Milestone Child Care and Kindergarten!!!
We recorded this message a little earlier…
Background
To begin, I thought it might be valuable to share a little bit about Choklits and our community. Choklits in Ringwood has been operating for a little over 30 years so we have a wonderful history, a lot which we have documented and shared on our website.
We also have a centre in Surrey Hills (Choklits Child Care Surrey Hills) which is currently growing very quickly too.
Photos, interviews with our fabulous team, videos from our parents and lots of information on our children’s programs including our incursions, excursions and pretty much everything that makes us Choklits is all available at choklits.com.au.
Whenever someone thinks of Choklits, they almost always think of Sue Brewer. Apart from the fact that we all think she is amazing, Sue has been a part of hundreds of children’s young lives in her 26 years at Choklits. That’s right, 26 years! Please ask Sue when you meet her about the many times multiple generations have attended Choklits!
She won’t mention it herself, but Sue was voted Melbourne’s Best Child Care Worker in March, 2022.
This is Sue…
I’m not too sure how we were able to convince her but, I’m really pleased to let you know that she will be joining me here at Milestone to help get Choklits Croydon underway!
Also joining the current Milestone team, will be another one of our Choklits Superstars who has now been with us for over 4 years, Dee Wasserfall.
Here is Dee…
And, in addition to what you already know, this is me, I’m Jade Ingleby…
Choklits is my second family! After a long career in the corporate world working for organisations including Ernst and Young and in senior management for the NAB, I purchased Choklits in Ringwood along with my husband, Matt. That was almost 6 years ago and it’s been the best career decision I’ve ever made!
Growing the Choklits Community is one of my favourite things in the world!
Here’s my video which also includes some more information on Choklits and all that we are about…
What to expect next...
For the time being, the centre will run as it has been under the Milestone name but a few changes are required. Before we cover them though, I’d like to share our philosophy.
At the beginning of 2021, we launched our brand new philosophy. Our whole team had input into its creation, we are all really proud of it and we live by it!
This is our philosophy;
Communication
We do our best to communicate as much as we possibly can as we believe in transparency wherever appropriate at Choklits. Please like our Choklits Facebook Page and follow the Choklits Instagram Page to make sure you stay up-to-date with all the latest happenings. Both our social accounts are also great places to see all that we have been up to in the past including our weekly incursions, excursions and off-site experiences.
Our regular extracurricular activities will be coming to Choklits Croydon over the next few months so stay tuned for those announcements too!
Sneak preview, check out our sports and physical education program we recently launched, Choklits Activate.
New CCS software and parent app
We will also be introducing Xplor, the highest rated CCS software, at Choklits Croydon. Xplor manages everything from your child’s enrolments, payments, bookings and much more in an easy to use app environment. Using QR codes, the app also allows you to quickly sign your child/ren in and out of the centre very easily. Xplor is owned by the same company that runs the current QikKids system which really helps with the transition.
You will receive two emails directly from Xplor on (or about) Tuesday September 20th which will start the transition process. The first email is your login details and the second contains your re-enrolment details. Both need to be actioned to complete your enrolment. To ensure you remain eligible to receive your CCS benefits, it’s really important to make sure all the instructions are followed and your payment details are correct as Xplor will handle everything going forward.
Alongside Xplor, the Choklits communication platform called Xplor Playground is also on its way.
Xplor Playground is a child experience engagement app for early education centres. The software makes it easier for educators to observe and document a child’s learning through the mobile app or online portal, promoting transparency, trust, and parent engagement so that educators can help children thrive. Via the app you will get live updates on your child’s day including everything from nappy changes to meal times and experiences completed.
If you get stuck with anything, you can also use this guide from Xplor at any stage, but nothing can happen before you get the first two emails directly from Xplor.
There’s potential for teething problems when moving to any new software but the Choklits team have been running both these programs for a few years now so we are in a good position to be able to help with any hiccups in the implementation process at Croydon, don’t be afraid to reach out if you need to.
Fees
Different child care centres charge fees differently and include different things within their fees. Choklits fees are all-inclusive, which means we never charge for extras, ever. This includes all our extra incursions, activities and excursions throughout the year.
The current daily fee will remain at $137. And, existing families won’t be required to pay either our joining fee or our bond.
Our fees are charged each Wednesday in advance of the coming week via direct debt. You will be able to manage your own payment details in the Xplor app where you will find many payment options including direct payment from a bank account and payment via credit card.
We’ll send out more information regarding fees and the Xplor setup in the next week. For you reference, our full Fees and Payments Policy can be found here.
If you have any questions at any stage, please contact us and any member of the Choklits Team will be more than happy to help!
Our Team
Speaking of our team, we currently have approximately 70 Choklits Team Members! Fun fact, our team can speak 21 different languages fluently (when we recorded this video we only had 11)! You can learn more about all of us at choklits.com.au/our-team.
They are all Superstars, excited about Choklits Croydon and all really looking forward to meeting you and your children.
The future of Choklits Croydon
Wowzers, the Choklits team has a lot to do!!
On a serious note though, both myself and the entire Choklits team know that you probably have many questions and even some concerns about the coming changes at Milestone Child Care & Kindergarten, it’s totally understandable. I can assure you that we will do everything we can to make the transition as easy as possible.
Our doors are always open at Choklits so please email us, phone us or come and see us in the office at anytime. And, please let us know if there’s ever anything we can do for you.
Our phone number remains unchanged 9727 4414 and our new email address is [email protected] (which I will monitor myself throughout our transition).
Milestone will be rebranded to Choklits Child Care Croydon over the next few weeks and some of our Choklits team will join the existing educators at Milestone to help with the changes. It’s a very exciting time for everyone.
We will be giving everyone at Choklits Croydon a starter pack containing many Choklits items including our own children’s books, our cookbook, some Choklits apparel and hats etc. as part of the transition. It will also include some important information about moving to Xplor. I planned on keeping this a surprise for you but I’m making a note here to ensure everyone receives their’s. If you don’t get yours in the first week, please ask me directly for it.
I’m really looking forward to meeting you over the next few weeks!
Thank you, and welcome to Choklits in Croydon!
Choklits Owner
PS- if you skipped over our philosophy above, you can also find the Choklits Philosophy here.
PPS- our website page for Choklits Croydon is located at choklits.com.au/croydon.
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