Family Day Care offers babies, toddlers and pre-schoolers a loving, fun, safe and educational small group environment.
Our 26 highly qualified and carefully selected Family Day Care Educators work from their own homes, providing an outstanding level of care and education to four children under school age.
The children develop a close connection with their Educator and strong friendships with other children also in care. Our team of Educators provide very warm and nurturing environments, maintain close connections and communication with families, and prepare their daily programs specifically for the needs and milestones of each child in care.
More than 200 children currently enjoy the benefits of Council’s Family Day Care service.
Families tell us they value consistency - they arrive at care and are greeted by one Educator who knows their child well. Families also receive detailed information about their child's day - the activities they engaged in, their learning areas of focus and how their child is building their strengths. It's a level of personalised service unique to Family Day Care.
All of Council’s Educators hold formal early childhood qualifications and are extremely passionate about childhood development. Family Day Care operates under the same national regulations and educational frameworks as other forms of approved childcare. The Child Care Subsidy applies to eligible families.
Our Family Day Care program has been caring for and educating local children for more than 40 years.
Family Feedback
Here is a sample of the feedback parents in our Family Day Care service share with us:
"Our only regret is we did not discover our daughter's Family Day Care Educator sooner. She genuinely loves the children she cares for and takes great effort to teach them so many things."
"Our Educator is brilliant - thorough, loving, educational, engaging and talented."
"Our Educator is amazing and always goes the extra mile, opening up our son's world in ways we couldn’t hope to achieve ourselves."
"The Educator always goes above and beyond for my child. She has a beautiful nature with the children and is so kind and caring. I fully trust her with my son. She organises amazing educational and fun activities for the children."
Some of the many benefits of Council Family Day Care include:
Smaller group numbers – only four children under school age
Warm and nurturing environments
Tailored learning programs & curriculums to meet the needs and milestones of each child in care
Detailed communication for parents about their child’s day
Safe environments compliant with industry standards
Additional needs – the educator-to-child ratio enables Educators to support children with additional needs, such as speech and occupational therapy.
School readiness – a personalised service to families in meeting their child’s transition to school needs, including the fostering of life skills with a focus on skill development and educational programs.
Ideal learning environment – children enjoy a familiar, secure and flexible education and care environment, promoting highly effective learning and social development.
Family Day Care’s small group environment ensures every child receives a tailored educational program to meet their developmental needs and milestones.
Daily education encompasses both academic and life skills education. It is embedded in a holistic program encompassing language and literacy; mathematics and engineering; science and technology; arts and crafts; sustainability education; music and dance; gross and fine motor skill development; cultural experiences; sensory experiences; free creative play and community excursions.
Academic skills include, among other skills, literacy and numeracy concepts and experiences. On a daily basis, this learning includes:
• recognition of numbers, letters, shapes and colours (early numeracy and literacy skills)
• vocabulary expansion
• story time, songs and rhymes (including music appreciation)
• developing pencil grip and fine motor skills
• writing, drawing, cutting, folding, pasting and painting, including the regular use of pencils, scissors, crayons and textas
• experimenting and hypothesising (early science)
• developing and increasing attention span.
Life skills focus on the following aspects of social and emotional skills, including:
• emotional resilience (self-regulating emotions, expressing emotions appropriately)
• self-help skills (caring for possessions and helping children to be independent)
• conflict resolution skills
• learning to share and take turns
• cooperating and collaborating with others
• learning to adapt to changes in routines
• knowing when and how to ask for assistance
• empathy and caring for others
• developing problem solving skills
• toileting independence
• the importance of good nutrition and exercise.
Our Family Day Care Educators are recruited and overseen by Council’s Children’s Services unit. Children’s Services’ team of Quality Practice Managers work with our Educators to ensure the highest standard of care for children is delivered.
They work closely in partnership with Educators to uphold organisational values and meet the childcare industry’s national standards, regulations and legislation.
All Family Day Care Educators hold formal early childhood qualifications, are fully insured, have a current first aid certificate and maintain a safe child care environment. Council also provides ongoing training opportunities to its Educators, ensuring their skills and knowledge remain among the industry’s best.
If you're thinking about childcare, take a close look at Family Day Care. Come along to our Childcare Information Session to meet our Family Day Care Educators, hear from a parent speaker about their child’s care experience and learn about this wonderful childcare option.
• Saturday 12 October 2019 (9.30am)
Venue: Gymea Bay Resource Centre, 276A Gymea Bay Road (corner Greygum Place), Gymea Bay.
Register your attendance: sutherlandshire.nsw.gov.au/careinfo
Enquiries welcome: ph 9710 0466
Some of Council’s 24 Educators are profiled here on www.shirechildcare.com.au. For a complete look at Council’s Educator profiles, please click here.
To see detailed information on our listed educators please use these links
Photos of Council's Family Day Care Educators can be viewedby using this link(Please click on each Educator's page to view photos of their learning environments).
Children’s Services, Sutherland Shire Council
Ground Floor, 4-20 Eton Street (main Council building, 8.30am-4.30pm)
Sutherland NSW 2232
