Katrina Myles Bonett makes sure the children have had their breakfast and their hands and faces cleaned, scoops a teary-eyed two-year-old boy into her arms, and walks into the garden. A new arrival, he needs a little reassurance.
Comforting the child as he sits in her lap, Ms Myles Bonett is ready to talk about Jack and Jill, her day care business which has just opened a second centre in Birkirkara. Two years in the offing, the premises were inaugurated eight years after the first Jack and Jill opened in Burmarrad.
Now, a third Jack and Jill is planned for opening in Xemxija next year.
Ms Myles Bonett has dedicated a large part of her life to caring for children; Jack and Jill is the realisation of a long-held dream to operate a day care centre business to her own standards.
Originally from Airdrie, Glasgow, Ms Myles Bonett was already working as a carer in a nursery when she came to Malta on holiday in 1986 aged 21. She met her future husband Joe and soon moved to the island where the couple began a food packaging business and later a property letting operation in the UK.
Child care was never far from her mind. In 1999, Ms Myles Bonett opened a playgroup in Qawra and the venture quickly became a success. But as a mother of son Connor and daughter Anais, Ms Myles Bonett was unsure how much further she would be able to venture into the world of business.
Her participation in the first Entrepreneurship for Women course, jointly organised by the European Union and the Employment and Training Corporation, boosted her confidence and altered her outlook.
“I learned more about myself and my potential,” she recalls. “I met women I could relate to, and the experience opened my eyes to opportunities.”
Ms Myles Bonett soldiered on and decided to open a fully-fledged day care centre in Burmarrad. Pregnant with her younger daughter, Tieghan, the pressure was piling up. She says she had slowly built a reputation for herself in the field with the playgroup, but had to prove herself even further to the bank and the accountant.
“It was an enormous challenge,” she says. “But I was defiant. I was going ahead, no matter how many times I was told not to bother, no matter how many hurdles stood in my way. The demand for day care centres was something I had envisaged years ago. I knew I had to invest in the right premises and conform to the standards I had worked with in the UK and what was demanded by the European Union. The local situation is strange because so little in this sector is formally law-abiding: The White Paper on child day care standards has remained just that, so all day care centres are provisionally registered.
“Parents demand very high standards from day care centres where they enrol their children – as I would for my own – and they are very well aware of what they want to see in place. I was determined to provide those standards.”
In 2008, Ms Myles Bonett faced another, more personal challenge, when she took on the care of her terminally-ill mother-in-law. The strength she mustered convinced her she was made of solid enough stock to shift her parameters and expand the business. Her application for funding under an EDRF scheme was approved and outline plans for the second and third day care centres were completed.
Ms Myles Bonett attributes her perseverance to being a multi-tasking, working mother, no different from many of the mums who drop their children off at Jack and Jill before heading off to work. Her own lifestyle has shaped the business model.
Jack and Jill has always been open from 6.45 a.m. to 6.30 p.m. in a bid to accommodate a range of parents’ working hours. A dedicated team of carers is assigned to separated baby rooms, toddler areas and the after school clubs. Jack and Jill is entrusted with the care of babies as young as two months and children up to nine years old.
Care is designed to follow parents’ wishes: carers will adhere to instructions on feeding routines and particular requirements for babies and will support mothers who wish to continue to breastfeed. Toddlers’ nutrition and toilet training is planned with parents; children attending the afterschool club are changed out of their uniforms, fed a healthy lunch, and supervised as they do their homework.
There is a year-round programme of activities for all the children, including crafts in dedicated areas, cooking, and games in the garden.
Ms Myles Bonett believes it is essential to accommodate the different needs of every child, be they educational, dietary or ethnic, and is particularly sensitive where respect for Maltese culture is concerned.
“We are able to support parents as they strike their own balance between work and family life,” Ms Myles Bonett adds. “The service we offer to parents includes carrying on their endeavour to instilling values of love and respect in children, building their self-esteem, learning through play, and imbuing them with a love of learning from a very young age.”
Jack and Jill Birkirkara will eventually encompass a fully licensed kindergarten.
Ms Myles Bonett believes it is such standards – not only within her own business but across the industry – which will give mothers and fathers who have limited child care options the confidence and peace of mind for both to pursue careers.
Tax incentives have also contributed to make child day care more accessible. As more mothers aspire to go out to work, Ms Myles Bonett believes employers should consider corporate packages at day care centres to support their teams, as it is now more financially feasible. She adds the government would do well to examine the potential of a voucher scheme to give some employees access to child day care.
“After moving to a new country, I learned to open doors for myself and I like to believe that through Jack and Jill I am opening doors for other parents,” Ms Myles Bonett says. “I am emotionally attached to this business and I show my face throughout the entire operation. Jack and Jill’s expansion is built on the credibility I have worked hard to earn for 20 years.”