We are thrilled to announce that Sue Brewer, our Choklits Child Care Ringwood Centre Director has been crowned Melbourne’s Best Child Care Worker by the Herald Sun; a truly wonderful achievement. In a selection process that speaks to her excellence and lasting impact on families, nominations were submitted from which a short list was published, wherein Sue won by the public’s vote.
Anyone who has met Sue can speak to her warm, welcoming personality and calm air that immediately puts people at ease, both of which are immeasurably helpful in her work with the children at Choklits. A prestigious award like this is an exciting moment for both Sue and our Choklits community, and we are so glad to see Sue’s dedication and talent being recognised in this way.
Having been a part of the Choklits community for 26 years to date, from her humble beginning as an assistant to her current position as Choklits Ringwood Centre Director, Sue is a keystone of our team and exemplifies what Choklits is all about as a workplace. We have established an environment that not only nurtures children but staff as well, with ample professional development opportunities to support educators in building a career in the early childhood sector.
Just like Sue says, early childhood education is all about “giving children a great start to the rest of their life”, so the most important thing to us when it comes to educators at Choklits is that they are “really passionate about their job – that this is their goal and their career that they want to do”. As we are fortunate to have an incredibly skilled and experienced team, backed by knowledgeable people like Sue, many educators with varying levels of experience have found a home at Choklits. From traineeship’s to work experience applicants, our strong foundation has helped many educators flourish.
Choklits is proud to be an equal-opportunity employer committed to inclusion and diversity, and we consider the diversity of our team at Choklits to be one of our biggest strengths. Our educators come from all walks of life, which means that our team is comprised of people of a variety of ages, nationalities and languages. This diversity affords us a wide range of perspectives and approaches, which broadens everyone’s understanding and sparks thought-provoking discussions, culminating in an improved experience for the children in our care and extending the education of our fabulous staff members.
We believe it’s the differences we see in each other including our backgrounds, experiences and how we think that is our strength in learning, as we so often say, ‘Learning is Everywhere’.
As Sue pointed out to the Herald Sun, the close-knit Choklits network shines true in all we do as we’ve had the joy of former Choklits’ children coming back to do their childcare placement with us, allowing the love of learning we aim to instil to complete a full circle.
Here at Choklits, we pride ourselves on excellence, which to families means they can be reassured their child is in exceptional hands, and to educators means that you’re on a team of talented, passionate educators who are committed to setting children up for success and fostering a love of learning. Working alongside people like Sue, who have over 26 years of experience under their belts, is a prime mentorship opportunity.
We know that children thrive in environments where they receive individualised attention, so at Choklits we have small group sizes and high educator to child ratios, which gives lots of opportunities to build individual connections and develop meaningful relationships with the children. At Choklits, educators are free to do what educators do best – working with children! Our centres are run by centre directors (like Sue), and our chef Helen prepares all the meals, snacks and co-ordinates meal times, so educators can remain focused on the children and their needs at all times.
As an early learning centre, we naturally spend the vast majority of our time focused on and discussing children, as they are the reason our educators love the work they do so very much, however, instances like Sue being named Melbourne’s Best Child Care Worker remind us of the value of a great workplace as well. Great workplaces and environments help educators thrive and when educators thrive our get children benefit too.
If you have a passion for early childhood education and are interested in joining the Choklits team, we would love to hear from you! Please take a look at our employment page for more information.
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