“Every single family that has contacted Edstart has raved about the customer service.”
See how Overnewton Anglican Community College freed up their finance team and elevated the family experience – with personalised care at every touchpoint.
Overnewton Anglican Community College at a glance
A diverse, close-knit community in Melbourne’s North West.
Since 1987, Overnewton Anglican Community College has been providing the growing North West Melbourne community an accessible and inclusive learning environment focused on developing the wellbeing and education of young people.
Overnewton was founded by parents and local residents passionate about quality education and creating a diverse, close-knit community.
The College centres its focus on a holistic education that develops the character of young people, combining a vast range of experiences outside the classroom with quality learning outcomes.
Overnewton prides itself on its thriving and diverse community, with unique offerings such as parent involvement in the school, exceptional staff, and programs that nurture connection and support student wellbeing.
Real outcomes for the College’s finance team and the families they support across Keilor and beyond.
Less time
on payment plan admin
Edstart took over the manual work of setting up and managing individual payment plans across the school community.
Lower
Debtor workload
Far less time spent chasing overdue accounts, with families supported directly by the Edstart Family Support team.
Guaranteed
Upfront payments
Predictable cash flow that helps the finance team budget and allocate funds for future College projects.
Demand for tailored payment arrangements was increasing, and the College wanted to help families smooth their payments – without stretching the finance team’s resources.
Continuing to offer these arrangements in-house was manual, resource-intensive, and created complexity across the finance team’s processes. The College needed a system that would reduce the heavy admin workload, remove complexity, and optimise operations.
Equally important: they wanted to work with an organisation they could trust, and one that families could pick up the phone and talk to about their financial circumstances.
“We approached Edstart as it was going to be able to really solve two problems for us. One is a great quality service for our families that provides them with flexibility, and the second is support for us to help manage fees, invoice payments, smoothing of payments – as well as reducing that administrative load.”
Emily FitzSimons, Principal
The partnership
Flexibility for families, without stretching the finance team.
With families ranging from double-income professionals to single parents and recent migrants, Overnewton knew flexibility was essential. Recent years – the COVID-19 pandemic and rising cost of living – had hit some families hard, especially the hard-working small business owners that the school counts as part of its community.
The outcome
A finance function that supports families and the College.
Overnewton quickly saw the benefits of partnering with Edstart. Streamlining operations relieved the finance team of a heavy workload, giving them capacity to focus on key areas of the business they previously lacked time for.
Easy access and visibility into family account status via the Edstart Plus Portal lets the team proactively support families who need help to stay up to date.
The Edstart Family Support team has provided peace of mind to both Overnewton and their families when discussing and managing payments. Families have been thrilled with the options available through Edstart Plus, and find it simple to use – with the added bonus of being able to add extra charges, like music or extracurricular activities.
Guaranteed upfront payments have also aided the College in budgeting and allocating finances for future projects, strengthening the finance function while retaining visibility for the team.
“Now we spend less time setting up and managing individual payment plans and we have to spend way less time working on debtors – which ultimately means we’ve got more time to focus on other more key areas of the college.”
Maria Calafiore, Deputy Business Manager
Want to lift the admin load off your finance team?
Book a 20-minute conversation with our team to see how Edstart could help your school deliver flexibility to families without stretching your team.