About me …

I am married with two children, Ellie who is 8 and Macy who is 4.

Jo Jingles Maidstone has been running for over 4 years now and I purchased the business from the previous franchisee in July 2006. I learnt about the proposed sale of the business whilst attending Jo Jingles classes with Macy. As soon as I heard it was for sale I immediately thought “I would love to do that!” and the rest is history.

I previously worked for Chelsea Building Society as a Mortgage Sales Centre Manager and then as a nanny in a children’s nursery. Two completely different jobs I know, but I am hoping they will put me in good stead and provide me with some valuable experience to run Jo Jingles. (so far it’s working!)

So what do we do at Jo Jingles classes?

Classes are both fun and educational. They are age specific and are typically offered for babies of 6 months – walking, under 2’s, over 2’s and 3–5’s although age groups may vary in some venues whilst we establish the class lists. Classes run for 45 minutes and are during term time only. The classes are interactive and we make sure we build on a repertoire of both old favourites and exciting new songs. Jo Jingles helps to teach each class and becomes a big friend to the children. We also have lots of props and visuals to make things fun and regularly theme the classes for the 2+ age groups. We have a large selection of percussion instruments and will use two different instruments each week. Each child will get his or her own identical instrument to play on – this helps to prevent toddler squabbles! Sometimes adults get to play too!

Classes are limited to around 15 children which helps us to introduce the children to routine and gentle discipline … all things which will be helpful when they move on to school. For the 3+ age group who may be at playgroup or nursery school part-time, Jo Jingles is an ideal activity for mum (dad or grandma) to share quality time with her child before he or she goes off to “big school” and the 3–5’s class includes a “music theory” module where we learn about notation, musical instruments etc.

What about siblings . twins . triplets? .

If you have two children close in age whom you would like to bring to the same Jo Jingles class we recommend they attend the correct class for the older child. Mum can then help the younger child, whilst the older child is likely to be more independent and need less parental input. There is a £1 per week reduction for the second child attending the same class as his or her sibling. Younger siblings attending should have their own space booked (at the discounted rate) if they are over 16 months and you are expecting them to join in the class fully. Babies and very young siblings can of course watch their older sibling's class free of charge.