Family Day Care
Summary
Since the beginning of our family day care service, we have supported over 200 educators, three thousand families, six thousand children, and had 30 children’s Christmas parties!
The service continues to offer a highly experienced and well supported program across Hume, Moonee Valley, Brimbank and the Macedon Ranges.
The service is stronger now than it ever has been – offering Educators varied opportunities to extend their skills, and support by an experienced management team.
How we Began
Our family day care service began in Sunbury in 1978 after Community Health Nurse, Frances Carstairs, identified the need for an alternative childcare choice in the district. Frances visited, and was very impressed with, the Fitzroy Family Day Care Scheme. She convinced the then Sunbury Community Health Committee of Management and Executive Officer, Jim Weatherill, to apply for a grant to establish a scheme.
In the years following, the day care service had carers in Sunbury, Craigieburn, Gisborne and Macedon.
Eventually, due to growing demand and regional boundaries put in place by the Australian Government where only one family day care scheme could operate in specified areas, a new scheme was established in Craigieburn, supported by Craigieburn Community Health Centre and later the Brotherhood of St Laurence. Another new scheme was established in Gisborne.
For approximately the next 20 years there were up to 100 not for profit schemes operating in Victoria.
In 2002, the first round of accreditation of family day care services commenced. It was also around this time that the Australian Government removed the regional boundaries and granted approval for private family day care services.
Today, there are approximately 400 family day care schemes operating in Victoria. Some of the changes for family day care schemes in recent years have been:
- Regulated by Department of Education and Early Childhood Development
- Accredited under the National Quality Framework
- Education and care for children is planned using the Early Years Frameworks
Sunbury Family Day care expanded in 2012 to provide education and care in townships across the Macedon Ranges. This brought on a change in name to Sunbury and Macedon Ranges Family Day Care. In 2015, we expanded to other areas in Hume including Craigieburn and Tullamarine, after the Brotherhood of St Lawrence concluded its family day care scheme.
Currently there are 29 educators working with the service and four coordination unit staff. Sunbury and Cobaw Community Health continues to provide a high level of support to the program.
In December 2016, Sunbury and Macedon Ranges Family Day Care relaunched as Our Village Family Childcare and we have since expanded across the Hume, Brimbank and Moonee Valley Local Government Areas. Our new name reflects the broad geographical coverage of the service and one of our core values – ‘It takes a village to belong and grow’.