School Holidays Bring Extra fun to the Cotton On Group
10th July, 2018
July school holidays are well upon us and the Cotton On Group’s Global Support Centre in Geelong was yesterday morning a hive of activity as 75 excited children arrived for the first day of this term’s KidsCo school holiday program.
This Group is delighted to have continued to partner with KidsCo for the sixth consecutive school holiday period to relieve some of the strain on our working carers that can come at this time.
“At the Cotton On Group we prioritise our people with every decision that we make. We know that school holidays can be a challenging time for team members who have responsibilities to care for children so we wanted to relieve some of that stress.” says Michael Hardwick, CFO, Cotton On Group.
The program was designed with exactly this in mind, with KidsCo Cofounder Adrian Rokman saying:
What we set out to do, is make things easy and convenient for working Mums and Dads, by uniting their working life and their family life – so they can easily co-exist.”
“With over 1,600 placements so far in in the KidsCo school holiday program, we know that our team members love it. We love being able to offer something that makes their lives easier, and aligns with our fun and family values.” adds Hardwick.
The feedback from our team members has been very positive. Maria, one of the carers whose granddaughter loves taking part in the program, said:
My granddaughter Krystal was very nervous to attend her first day, but now can’t wait for the next one. To be able to come to work together, have breakfast in the Common, and go home together has been great. Last holidays I had to allow an extra 2 hours for the dropping off and picking up factor. We have gained valuable family time in the day.
And it’s not just the carers who appreciate KidsCo’s partnership with the Group; the Kids involved have been having a ball taking part in the ever-changing, fun and engaging activities while the teachers who lead the program enjoy an additional revenue stream not previously available.
Family is always at the forefront at the Group and with no cost to our team members, this is one of many initiatives we deliver to support a healthy work/life mix for our people.
These include a flexible return-to-work program for new parents, our annual leave Fun Fund which sees a team members entered into a draw to win a $10,000 voucher each quarter as a reward for taking annual leave, and offering longstanding team members access to their long service leave after seven years tenure as opposed to the national standard of 10 years.
It’s all part of our continuing journey to be one of the best places to work.