Finding the right partner: How Choklits Child Care and Kindergarten chose Storypark as their all-in-one solution

Choklits Child Care and Kindergarten recently consolidated platforms with Storypark to streamline operations across their three Victorian centres, while also gaining sector-leading family engagement tools. Their experience offers valuable insights for other early childhood education and care (ECEC) services navigating digital transformation and modernising their operations.

 

Picture this: It’s another busy morning at one of Choklits’ three Victorian centres, and the team is shuffling between their childcare management platform, rostering system, and Microsoft Office tools; managing payments, updating records, creating reports, and manipulating data across multiple systems just to run their daily operations.

 

Meanwhile, when families need urgent communication, the team resorts to text messages because their platform’s messaging just isn’t reliable enough when it matters most. And learning documentation isn’t connecting with families the way it should, limiting the connection families get with their children’s learning.

 

For Matt Reynolds and Jade Ingleby, owners of Choklits Child Care and Kindergarten, this patchwork approach to managing their growing operation was becoming unsustainable. “When you work across platforms, you have data all in different places, and it becomes really inefficient,” Matt reflects. “We needed to clean that up to save time.”

 

Beyond efficiency, this was about focus. “At the end of the day, we’re here to provide learning and care for children,” Matt explains. “Sitting in front of a computer watching the little wheel spin isn’t where I want to be spending my time.”

 

The challenge was clear: how do you maintain the personal, community-focussed culture that makes Choklits special, while managing the complex operational demands of three centres serving nearly 300 families across diverse communities?

 

The answer came when they discovered they could have both comprehensive management tools and meaningful family engagement, all in one place.

 

The Sector sat down with Jade and Matt to understand how Storypark’s all-in-one platform transformed their operations, freed up time for what matters most, and reinforced the community connections that are at the heart of their organisation.

 

The people behind Choklits

 

Choklits Child Care and Kindergarten has built something special across their three Victorian centres. With locations in Surrey Hills, Ringwood, and Croydon serving around 300 children, Matt and Jade have created a warm, community-focussed operation.

 

“I’d describe Choklits as having a big heart it’s something you feel, not necessarily something you see,” Jade explains. “We’ve always been known as a home away from home. Because Matt and I are both owners, we’re family-oriented.”

 

But what really sets Choklits apart is their team. “Our team is incredibly motivated and passionate,” Jade continues. “We’re at a size now where they’re coming to us with amazing ideas. Honestly, I’m blown away every day by their creativity and expertise how they manage the service, the care and passion they put into daily practices.”

 

This isn’t just feel-good talk. Matt and Jade have built their culture around a simple philosophy: they recruit people who can tell them what to do, not the other way around. Learning from everyone who comes in has been at the heart of their culture for a long time.

 

The result? As Jade puts it, “I often talk about supporting our team to reach their potential and getting to a point that they’re so good they could leave, but creating a culture that makes them want to stay. We focus on making sure staff are well-supported, trained, happy, and engaged, because that results in happy, engaged children and that’s who we ultimately serve.”

 

But even the most passionate team can be held back by systems that don’t work together. And that’s exactly where Choklits found themselves.

 

Why change?

 

What made you start looking for an alternative to your existing systems?

 

For Matt, it came down to a fundamental principle: better data drives better decisions. “In today’s world, you need data, right? We all talk about it. And if you have data, it needs to be accurate, and it needs to come at a reasonable price.”

 

But their patchwork approach wasn’t delivering either accuracy or efficiency. “The reason we started looking was because we wanted better data, because that drives our decision-making.”

 

And it wasn’t just about money, “If you bring your systems together, you save time and money. The more you can save and give back to the service in our case, the children the more everyone wins, including educators.”

 

How did you know it was time to act?

 

For Jade, it wasn’t one dramatic moment, it was the growing realisation that families weren’t getting the connection they deserved with their children’s learning.

 

“The old system didn’t really connect families or give them transparent insight into their child’s day; weekly reflections, learning stories, photos, which anyone in the industry knows takes a lot of time to create and are highly valued by families. 

 

The impact on family engagement was significant, “If you have passionate educators putting their heart and soul into documenting children’s learning to extend that learning at home, but the system doesn’t make it easy to connect families with that learning, then families miss out.”

 

The contrast with what was possible became clear, “With Storypark, families give feedback like: ‘This is fantastic,’ ‘This is what’s happening in my child’s day,’ and they can comment and engage. When families are engaged, it’s better for everyone.”

 

Why Storypark? The decision process

 

What made you consider Storypark as an alternative?

 

The decision wasn’t just about features, it was also about values. “I feel like Storypark really aligns with our values and who we are,” Jade reflects. “With some of the other CCMS systems we’d used, the customer service just wasn’t there. It didn’t feel like a partnership.”

 

The contrast in experience was stark, “When we had an issue, it was hard to get onto them. Even when we saw them in person, we didn’t feel heard. That’s not who we are.”

 

For Choklits, alignment mattered more than features alone, “One of the key reasons for choosing Storypark was that our values aligned community, people, educators, engagement, communication all for a better outcome for children. That alignment resonates even more now that we’re using it: educators engaged, staff engaged, parents engaged, everything flowing easily.”

 

Matt had additional considerations around trust and reliability, “We considered Storypark as an alternative partly because we knew you’d been around a while, and when we’d used you many years ago we’d had a great experience. Coming off a bad experience, we needed confidence that our new platform would meet our needs.”

 

What reassured you during the decision-making process?

 

For Jade, confidence in the decision came from Storypark’s established reputation, “I think it was the well-established reputation in the industry. As Matt said, educators and parents were already familiar with it and knew how to use it, that was reassuring.”

 

The certainty was palpable, “I was confident it would work. Honestly, I didn’t even question whether it would. That’s your reassurance right there, I knew it would work.”

 

It was also an easy sell internally: “Storypark already had recognition in our industry, with thousands of customers, which speaks to your success. We’ve had educators come to us over the years who had used Storypark elsewhere, and they were thrilled to use it again because of its ease.”

 

The usability factor was immediately apparent, “One thing I noticed straight away with Storypark is how easy it is to use, really user-friendly. You get better outcomes when people know how to use a system properly.”

 

This made implementation smoother, “It was an easy internal sell for us. I think that gets forgotten with new systems, you do need to sell it internally to your team and get buy-in. If you have someone championing the system, and we had several at every service, it’s easier because they help each other. Educators are collaborative by nature, so the system naturally takes hold.”

 

The family acceptance was equally smooth, “And with parents, too they know the name.”

 

The implementation experience

 

How did the onboarding and transition to Storypark’s all-in-one platform go?

 

For a multi-site organisation like Choklits, system implementations can be a major undertaking. But this time was different.

 

“The transition to Storypark was very easy for us,” Jade reflects. The process was refreshingly efficient: “I sat in about three half-hour meetings, that was it. Our team easily handled the rest. That speaks to the ease of implementing Storypark.”

 

Compared to the previous platform rollout, the difference was night and day. Jade recalls their last implementation, “Going back to when we implemented our first system, I was standing at the front of every single service doing one-on-one tech support for weeks – for parents and our team. I’d show them how to log in, make YouTube videos explaining it, none of that had to happen this time.”

 

“As a customer-focused service, we want parents to have a good experience, and we don’t want them resistant to change. You need a high-touch approach when implementing new systems to make sure they know what they’re doing.”

 

With Storypark, that extensive support wasn’t needed, “With Storypark, I didn’t have to be part of the implementation, the app was easy to use.”

 

The relationship factor also made a difference, “The relationship helped too. When we were looking to come on board, we had already met the chief customer officer Katie Dowle at several sector events, and later our [Storypark] account manager and the customer service team, which made signing the contract and the onboarding process smooth. High-touch conversations, feeling heard, we really appreciated that.”

 

The results: What’s changed?

 

What specific processes have you been able to streamline since implementing the platform?

 

One of the most significant improvements has been in Choklit’s financial management. “From a finance perspective, it highlights all payments and bad debts right on the screen, and you get alerts too,” Jade explains.

 

“We’ve been able to change how we handle debts. Now it’s really rare to have them, and when we do, it’s not the platform’s fault, it’s usually due to something else going on.”

 

The real-time visibility has made all the difference, “Having visibility of payments and any debts means the team can act quickly. When you’re working across platforms, it’s easy to miss something without realising it. But if you put it in one spot, on a dashboard, with a widget reporting the information, it’s easy.”

 

This simplicity drives compliance, “An easy system is a system people will follow. On the finance side, having it in real time means staff can quickly call parents whose payments have issues, work out whether it’s a CCS or finance problem, and partner with them to fix it. The quicker you do that the better for both the service and the family. Having it right there on the dashboard means you can take action as soon as you see it.”

 

The trust factor was crucial, “You need to be able to rely on your systems because there’s a lot of trust there. Our families need to know we’re doing the right things, and if part of your process lets you down, it reflects directly on you.”

 

For Choklits, this meant finding the right partner: “We needed a reliable partner to build and maintain that trust, not let us down. That was a key change for us.” Having everything consolidated also provided peace of mind: “Now, everything’s in one spot, manageable, and under our control. We also keep control of our data, which is increasingly important.”

 

How has it impacted your family relationships and retention?

 

The improvements in family experience have been significant. “I do think it’s helped us maintain occupancy,” Jade reflects. “Before, we had inaccurate and non-live data, which frustrated parents. Complaints were escalating. I believe switching to Storypark has allowed us to keep those families enrolled.”

 

Matt adds another perspective on the enrolment process, “What I can say is that it’s helped the team manage the enrolment process more effectively. I’m not sure if it’s increased enrolments yet we’re still early into the process but having the CRM integrated in our main platform is a huge benefit.”

 

The elimination of data re-entry has improved the family experience, “I hate working between systems and re-entering data. This takes that away, which is less frustrating for families and our team. If you have to ask families for their name six times before they even start, that’s too many. Once is enough. You enter it once, it’s recorded, and the process flows from there.”

 

Looking forward: Future growth

 

How do you see Storypark supporting your service in the future?

 

Matt and Jade looked beyond their current problems and focused on building a long-term foundation for growth. “We certainly see Storypark being a part of our future,” Jade explains. “We have goals and plans to continue growing and expanding Choklits, and we’re in the phase now of building systems and processes we can grow on top of.”

 

The last twelve months have been about preparation, “It’s been a transition over the last 12 months, getting ready to grow again. Everything we’re doing now systems, processes, what we implement, how we work, who we rely on it’s all about aligning our values and choosing the right partners.”

 

Scalability was a key consideration: “As we expand, we don’t want to go back and redo any of these things. We want solutions that can grow with us. The Storypark offering is well positioned, as far as we’ve seen, to do that. That gives us confidence we’ve made the right choice.”

 

The foundation is crucial, “Without these systems, we wouldn’t be able to grow. We’re always thinking about how to bring it back to the program and the children. We want to deliver more of the good stuff we do at Choklits to more people, and we need systems and processes in place to do that.”

 

What excites you most about the partnership going forward?

 

What excites Jade most is the collaborative approach: “I feel Storypark will work with us in partnership to meet our team’s needs. Educators who are engaged and love what they do will ensure the children love what they do. That’s how I see the relationship growing and evolving together to meet our needs.”

 

The potential for continued innovation and efficiency gains holds great promise. “One thing we’re passionate about is our educators and people. I see Storypark continuously evolving, most recently with AI, in ways that will help.”

 

The AI translation feature has already shown benefits for their diverse workforce, “It’s been a great learning tool, just the changing between languages. We’ve got some educators who’ve used that as a learning tool so they can go from their first language to English and back, checking their work. That’s been a real benefit for them.”

 

But it’s the broader efficiency gains that excite Matt most, “One of the things we’ve always asked ourselves, and technology is no different, is: What needs to be true to get a better learning outcome? One thing is creating more time in the day. If you want more time, the natural thing to look at is technology.”

 

This philosophy has already delivered results, “One of the great things about having strong financial data and staying on top of payments is that you can redirect the money you’d otherwise lose to bad debts into your curriculum. We just went through it yesterday between now and the end of the year at Choklits, we have 21 additional experiences, incursions, and excursions across all centres.”

 

For them, it all comes back to outcomes for children, “Everything in early learning comes back to what we’re trying to achieve for the children: the right program for learning to flourish. If you don’t have your data right, you can’t make that happen in the best way possible.”

 

Advice for other leaders

 

What would you say to other ECE leaders who feel hesitant about switching systems?

 

Matt’s advice to centres on keeping the focus on what matters most, “My thought on switching systems is that it really needs to come back to your curriculum and the outcome for your children.”

 

“So how does someone feel about changing systems? Well, the outcome should carry more weight than the nervousness about change. If you ask yourself, ‘What needs to be true?’ and the answer is ‘We need to make a change to better our curriculum, better our service, and do more for families,’ then we should take ourselves out of it and make the change.”

 

He acknowledges the natural resistance, “Will it be smooth sailing 100% of the time? Probably not. Is anything in life? Not really. But as long as the outcome is worth it, that’s the advice I’ll give: go through it in the best way you can, lean on people who’ve done it before, get help if you can, and stay focused on what it’s going to do for your families and, in turn, for the children.”

 

What about leaders considering consolidating their tools?

 

Matt sees consolidation as inevitable, “There are efficiencies to consider. If you’re looking to get some time back, help your educators in their jobs, and give them a bit of time back as well, then it’s something you’ve got to consider quite seriously.”

 

The timing matters, “Storypark will continue to get better, as it has in the past, and will continue to innovate and add more features. Every moment you don’t make the move, you’re, by default, getting a little bit further behind. It’s not a case of if, it’s a case of when. You’ve got to be comfortable with that.”

 

The operational benefits are clear, “I think consolidation also reduces errors. Often there’s manual entry when systems don’t talk to each other, whether it’s start dates, enrolment information, or other details. Errors become less frequent with consolidation.”

 

“As errors go down, efficiencies go up, and feedback and complaints reduce. That’s another reason to consolidate: error management, reduced complaints, and better customer experience.”

 

If you had to sum up Storypark in one sentence…

 

Matt: “Storypark brings all the important elements of your operation together, puts them in the one place and makes them work together, which brings efficiencies for everybody time back for families, for educators, and better outcomes for children.”

 

Jade: “If I had to sum up Storypark in one sentence, although it’s very difficult, I would say a community-focussed partner that is going to deliver exceptional outcomes for our future and our future leaders.”

 

Ready to discover how Storypark’s all-in-one platform could transform your operations? Visit the Storypark website to learn more about bringing your tools together in one place, or contact their team to discuss your specific needs.