Qualified family day care educators provide high quality early education and care services to help children learn and thrive. All educators meet National Quality Standards and must be registered and approved by the Department for Education.

Educators must comply with the National Quality Framework (NQF) and the department's policies, procedures and guidelines that govern family care.

The Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) oversees the implementation and delivery of the NQF at a national level and the regulatory authority at a state level. In South Australia the regulatory authority is the Education Standards Board (ESB).

Educators and staff must adhere to the following code of conduct values and act in a manner which reflects the following core values.

Respect – how we treat other people:

Educators and staff must be respectful and have regard for the dignity of others.

Accountability – responsibility for our own actions:

Be accountable for the decisions and actions you make.

Leadership – how we inspire others:

The department recognises individual and collective strength and promotes the importance of quality care and learning.

Integrity – intent and meaning of our actions:

We give our best and act honestly, openly and fairly in our work.

Excellence – our learning:

Practices and actions of educators and staff should demonstrate the importance of continual learning and the development of children, ourselves and the family day care program.

Cooperation – working together:

We work with others; sharing perspectives, skills and knowledge.

Family day care vision

All children have a right to learn and develop to their full potential in a safe and nurturing environment.

Family day care is unique. It is defined by having only one educator consistently caring for and educating a small number of children of varying ages, in the familiar and flexible setting of a family home.We facilitate learning and development through play so that children create, imagine, explore, initiate, discover, problem solve and have fun in natural and built environments.

The family day care education and care programs are enriched by the diversity of those who access the service, and are improved by the diversity of educators who bring their own passions and interests to the common service framework.

Family day care priorities

Staff and educators work together to provide best-practice education and care that:

• enables children to succeed throughout their lives as learners, confident and creative individuals, and active and informed citizens
• nurtures and supports child wellbeing, self-esteem and a sense of belonging
• challenges children while recognising their individual needs, capabilities and competencies
• promotes inclusion, equity and participation, which is visible in our actions, interactions and daily practices
• builds an understanding and respect for the diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, perspectives and lived experiences, particularly within their local communities.

Family day care approach

The vision is achieved through:

• building collaborative, respectful and supportive relationships with children, parents, families and communities
• growing family dat cares reputation as a professional education and care choice
• partnering with other agencies and communities to support individual learning needs and access learning experiences
• communicating openly with parents to seek their input on decisions about their child’s education and care
• regularly informing parents about their child’s experiences, learning and development
• planning for children’s learning and development with times for intentional teaching while enabling and encouraging children to lead their own learning
• regularly documenting and assessing each child’s learning and development to inform program planning
• valuing staff and educators
• continually building upon family day cares service competence through ongoing critical reflection on our practice
• prioritising family day cares own learning and development.

The family day care philosophy is based on the principles set out in the:

• Early Years Learning Framework
• My Time Our Place: Framework for School Age Care
• National Quality Framework for Early Childhood Education and Care
• Early Childhood Australia’s Code of Ethics.

Family day cares policies and procedures govern the service. They maintain focus on children's health, safety and wellbeing as well as compliance with the National Quality Framework.

Policy

• Family day care health and safety policy (PDF 294 KB)
• Family day care programming, physical environment and relationships policy (PDF 225 KB)
• Family day care governance, leadership and staffing policy (PDF 230 KB)
• Respite Care operational policy – under review.

Procedure

• Management of complaints incidents and non-compliance in family day care and respite care program procedure (PDF 756 KB)
• Family day care fee and levy charging procedure (PDF 422 KB)
• Family day care fee and levy charges (PDF 179 KB) .