Foundations Family Day Care’s story is one of helping others and responsive, innovative support.

The original idea came from talking to a group of Educators whose council service was in its last throes. During discussions with them, it occurred to me that my experience might be able to help them. Then, a chance discussion with another person, who highlighted my knowledge, plus my ability to understand and interpret government requirements provided the additional push needed to submit the original applications for Provider, Service and Child Care Benefit Approvals.

Welcome back, everyone! I hope you’ve all had or are having a relaxing break. As we begin 2023, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on last year and all the amazing things that happened for our service. 2022 was a WONDERFUL change from the previous couple of years for Foundations Family Day Care, with growth, friendship, teamwork, training, and success being such strong features of our year.

Many of you make have heard about the child care shut down tomorrow and be wondering what it is about. Across Australia, and to some extent most of the world, Early Childhood Education and Care is seen as trivial, low skilled work, by both the general public and the powers that be. An example of this attitude was David Leyonhjelm’s 2017 comment about our work consisting of “wiping noses and stopping children from killing each other.” This pathetically poor attitude is, unfortunately, quite pervasive, along with the misconception that Early Childhood Educators get to “play all day” and should be happy to work for menial pay.

The FFDC team is SO proud of Kathi for achieving the Coordinator of the Year Award for Victoria & Tasmania and becoming a national finalist. In talking to her after her win, I asked Kathi what she identifies as some of her biggest achievements as coordinator this year. Here are some of her highlights.