Personalised care and learning
Parents value the one-on-one attention and customised learning program their child receives in Family Day Care.
No other government-approved childcare service provides the same level of attention and customisation to a child’s learning and growth.
Strong Educator and family connections
At every drop off and pick up, parents see the familiar face of their Educator who knows them and their child well.
The children and their families develop strong connections with their Educator, while the children also form strong friendships with each other in the small group setting.
Parent communication
Our Educators collaborate with parents on their child's daily program. Parents receive detailed information including:
- photos of their child
- sleeping, feeding and toileting information
- learning activities and outcomes
- milestones achieved
- daily highlights
- knowledge of early childhood development
Parents develop a deep understanding of how their child is building their strengths.
Family Day Care Educators provide care and education to only four children under school age each day, allowing children plenty of one-on-one attention.
The small group setting is ideal for the daily learning program to meet the needs and milestones of the children in care each day.
Parent feedback: “Family Day Care offers the perfect balance of education, fun and adventure. Our Educator provides our affectionate little girl with all the cuddles she needs. She loves the small group of friends she spends her days with.”
Family Day Care Educators set their own fees, based on their location, qualifications, experience, inclusions and operating costs.
Families pay their Educator an hourly fee (a minimum of 8-10 hours per day, depending on the Educator).
Council charges families a small hourly scheme contribution fee ($1.60 per hour for the 2022/23 financial year).
Child Care Subsidy
Child Care Subsidy (CCS) applies to Family Day Care. This helps parents with the cost of childcare.
You can check your CCS eligibility with Services Australia.
Our Family Day Care services are safe and compliant with industry regulations. We operate to a high standard.
Commitment to quality
Our Quality Practice team oversees Family Day Care processes and practices.
We spend time at each service reviewing these. During each visit we examine a different focus area. These include the children's education program, health and safety, physical environment and governance.
We have a strong commitment to continuous improvement. We collaborate closely with our Educators and offer ongoing professional learning.
Children's health and wellbeing
We understand parents' concerns about children's health and wellbeing. Safety is our highest priority.
Our Health & Safety guideline ensures the children receive care in an optimal safe and hygienic environment.
Family Day Care's small group size also offers less potential exposure to childhood illnesses.
Government approved service
Family Day Care is a federal government-approved childcare service. All approved services follow the same national regulations and educational frameworks.
The governing body for childcare assesses and rates all services, including Family Day Care.
We have achieved an overall rating of 'Meeting' the industry’s National Quality Standard which is a very pleasing result. It's a testament to the talented and experienced Educators we partner with.
Qualifications
Our Educators are qualified and experienced. We only take on the best. They're warm and caring individuals devoted to their profession.
Every Council Family Day Care Educator maintains the following:
- Formal early childhood qualification/s
- Relevant insurance
- Current first aid certificate
- A safe childcare environment.
We value every child. Inclusion is at the heart of each Family Day Care Educator’s philosophy and practices.
Enrolments
Family Day Care Educators will speak with you to learn as much as possible about your child.
Educators look at a range of factors when considering an enrolment. These include:
- your child’s needs
- the service's facilities
- Educator training and experience
- access to suitable support services
- suitability of the Family Day Care environment.
Children’s Services’ early childhood specialists provide guidance to Family Day Care Educators to support practices that maintain the inclusion, safety and wellbeing of all children in care.
Your role
When applying for Family Day Care, it is imperative that families provide accurate and current information about their child. This includes providing detail about a diagnosis, additional needs, challenging behaviours and medical needs.
Your child’s enrolment may be at risk if you do not provide all relevant information.
Families applying for care are required to be committed to open, ongoing communication to ensure our Family Day Care Educator meets your child’s needs.
Family Day Care Educator’s role
Family Day Care Educators will provide:
- accurate and timely information about your child
- relevant information from health professionals and support agencies
- time to meet your child and family before starting care
- equal opportunities to make decisions about your child’s learning program
- opportunities to share your family’s culture, knowledge and skills
- regular opportunities to share your expectations and views of our inclusive program.
We understand that choosing the right childcare service is a big decision.
Our Family Day Care Educators are highly experienced at meeting the needs and routines of infants. With only four children in care, they invest quality time getting to know your baby.
Learn more about our Family Day Care services so you can make the best choice for your child and family.
Getting to know you and your baby
Our Family Day Care Educators will build a relationship with your baby and family before starting care.
During your baby’s time in care, Educators will provide open, two-way communication with you to understand:
- your baby’s sleep, feeding and daily routine
- your baby’s unique personality and their likes and dislikes.
Our Educators will mirror your baby’s home routine to the greatest extent possible in their service.
Partnering with you
Our Educators will partner with you every step of the way. Each day they will share detailed information about your child’s:
- feeding
- sleeping
- nappy changes
- learning activities
- disposition
Our experienced Educators
Our Educators are experts in baby care routines and infant development. They are committed to ensuring your child enjoys their days in care, full of many cuddles, smiles, songs and stories.
Baby’s learning
Your baby will have many opportunities to grow, learn and enjoy new experiences through programs including:
- music and movement
- literacy experiences
- activities to build gross motor skills
- socialising with other children
- age-appropriate developmental experiences
Infancy is an important time for your baby's development. Our Educators focus on their progress in these areas:
- forming strong connections and relationships.
- mobility (crawling, standing and, for some infants, walking) and fostering their ‘independence’.
- language development - learning to express their wants and needs and understand communication.
Toddlers are moving through a crucial phase of development. Family Day Care supports their needs in a nurturing and supportive educational environment.
Getting to know your child
With only four children in care, our Family Day Care Educators know each child very well.
They quickly get to know their unique personality, preferences and interests.
Supporting your toddler’s development
Our Educators help toddlers to build a wide range of important skills. This includes supporting toddlers to:
- Build receptive language (processing and understanding what they hear and acting on this)
- Build expressive language (communicating and expressing needs, learning new words)
- Encourage resilience (bounce back from 'challenges' and try again)
- Take part in a group
- Follow instructions (e.g. building from a single task to multi-step tasks)
- Develop a sense of identity (who am I and where do I fit in?)
- Form friendships and learn to share
- Develop emotional regulation skills
- Increase attention span
- Achieve toileting and feeding independence
- Develop core strength and coordination.
Toddler educational programs
Our Family Day Care educational programs are play-based. Each toddler's development is strengthened through a range of daily activities such as:
- Creative arts and sensory play
- Puzzles and games (e.g. simple instructional games such as ‘Simon Says’)
- Reading stories
- Music, dancing and singing
- Role play
- Construction/destruction areas
- Outdoor play and physical movement to build core strength and learn to jump and climb. During outdoor play children also learn to assess risks e.g. ‘Can I jump from here?’.
Strong connections with you and your child
Our Educators build strong relationships with every child. This ensures they feel supported, connected and happy.
They work in close partnership with parents on their child’s specific needs.
Is there an area of focus you would like them to concentrate on? What are your toddler’s current interests?
Our Educators encourage and value parent input into their child’s curriculum.
Our Educators tailor their preschool programs to suit each child’s individual needs. Programs also include the children's interests and any parent requested focus areas.
Early Years Learning Framework
There is only one government approved learning framework for children under school age. It’s called the Early Years Learning Framework.
Family Day Care’s preschool program follows this Australian Government framework.
Play-based programs
Programs are play-based and promote the following skills:
- Language (e.g. learning new words, following directions, sharing news and stories)
- Cognitive growth (concepts such as time, advanced memory games)
- Pre-literacy
- Pre-numeracy
- STEAM experiences (science, technology, engineering, arts and maths)
- Fine motor skills (pincer grip, cutting, pasting, holding a pencil, drawing, writing name)
- Gross motor skills (hopping, jumping, skipping).
Social and emotional skills
Social and emotional skills are also important for starting primary school. Our Educators focus on your child's development in these areas:
- Emotional resilience (self-regulating emotions, expressing emotions in a way others would expect)
- Self-care skills (e.g. caring for belongings, tying shoelaces, toileting independence)
- Making and maintaining friendships
- Starting conversations with others
- Problem solving skills
- Developing resilience
- Sharing and taking turns
- Compromising, cooperating and collaborating with other children
- Learning to adapt to changes in routines
- Knowing when and how to ask for help
- Empathy and caring for others.
The children enjoy many daily experiences and activities. We build their strengths and promote a life-long love of learning.
Sutherland Shire Family Day Care believes in providing the best quality early education and care that caters to the changing needs of children, families, educators, management and community.
Our aim is to ensure children feel loved, valued and included and that each child’s voice and their rights are respected and upheld. We strive to foster a love for learning and create an environment that extends and enriches children’s learning to provide them the best start in life.
We believe that children are unique individuals who bring their own special skills, talents and experiences to the early education care environment. We aim to foster children’s learning through play which comes directly from their interests, experiences, needs and developmental abilities. We provide nature-based play environments that promote a love for the natural world and encourage children to be active participants of their community.
We believe all children have the right to feel safe and secure, in control of their environment and develop a relationship with their Educators, which is based on trust and respect. This creates a sense of belonging for each child and supports development of a positive self-image and confidence. We aim to provide an environment that is free from bias and acknowledges each child’s cultural background.
We recognise, respect and celebrate the diverse cultures that each child, family, educator and community bring to the scheme. We acknowledge that each family brings a diverse range of needs, interests and experiences to the early education and care environment. The diversity of child rearing practices are acknowledged and respected by the entire scheme.
We recognise the importance of families in children’s lives. Families bring a wide range of skills and knowledge to the service and are actively encouraged to collaborate with Educators about curriculum decisions in order to ensure that learning experiences are meaningful. Educators and Management provide inclusive spaces for all families where support and advise to can be provided to promote the health and wellbeing of all children.
We aim to develop partnerships that are based on mutual respect and trust. The partnership relies on open, honest and professional communication by all parties which creates an environment where needs can be discussed and solutions found.
We strive to be leaders in the industry and strongly advocate for the role that Family Day Care plays in the wider community. We create a united, professional, supportive and reflective environment which allows opportunities for Management and Educators to collaborate and develop both personally and professionally.
Management and Educators believe in the importance of being role models for children and their families. Educators and management staff are unique individuals who each bring their own skills, talents, opinions and perspectives to the scheme which makes for a rich and diverse environment. We are committed to ongoing learning and professional development. We see effective communication and a team approach as being vital and will influence the quality of care that is provided and the quality of the programme that is implemented.
References
Australian Children’s Education and care Quality Authority (ACECQA) (2011) Guide to the National Quality Standard. Sydney: ACECQA.
Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) (2009a). Being Belonging and Becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia. Canberra: DEEWR.
Belonging, Being & Becoming- The Early Years Framework for Australia.
Philosophy Reviewed May 2018.This Philosophy is endorsed by Sutherland Shire Council Children’s Services Unit.
Useful links
Early Childhood Australia (2012). EYLF PLP e-newsletter. No.28. “Using the guiding principles of the EYLF and the NQF”. Available at www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/eylfplp
Code of Ethics - provides a framework for reflection about the ethical responsibilities of early childhood professionals who work with or on behalf of children and families in early childhood settings.
United Nations convention on the rights of the child - the most widely ratified human rights treaty in history and has helped transform children’s lives around the world.
Our Educators are qualified and experienced. Many have been with us for a long time and we know them well. They're warm and caring individuals devoted to their profession.