Family Day Care Educators and Coordinators
Support and coordinate children's learning, development and wellbeing in family day care services, including following an approved learning framework.
A coordinator's visiting day
You are a family day care coordinator, visiting educators' homes to support them and check the service is meeting its standards. It is Thursday and you have three home visits booked. The first is to Sandra, an experienced educator whose service you have always trusted, and you arrive a few minutes early.
Choose what you would do. Then see what happens. There are often good reasons for each choice.
Come on in. Excuse the mess, we had a busy morning. The kids are in the backyard. Oh, don't mind the pool gate, it keeps sticking so I've been wedging it open to save time. I'll fix it soon, I promise.
Ask Sandra to latch the gate now, then agree a repair date in writing
Sandra is embarrassed but acts at once. She gets the gate fixed that afternoon. You note it in your visit record. Standing firm about safety, kindly, is exactly the job.
Say it is fine for now since Sandra has always been reliable, and ask her to fix it by next week
Over the weekend a child wanders out, and while no one is hurt it is a very near thing. You knew about a hazard, and left it. A good record does not make an open gate safe.
Report her to the regulator straight away for the open gate, without a conversation
The gate is a serious matter, but the regulator hears from you before Sandra has had a chance to fix it. She feels betrayed. You could have fixed the hazard and still reported it fairly.
Our educator has to leave early on Friday and I need care until six. I know you have a waiting list, but can you squeeze my son in with Sandra? She is lovely and she already has a full house. Just one more child?
Say yes, since Sandra is lovely and it is only one more child for a single afternoon
Sandra is over the number of children she is approved for, which puts every child at risk. An officer spots it at a later check, and the service is in trouble. Numbers are there for a reason.
Explain Sandra is full, and look for another approved educator with space and tell him quickly
You find an educator two streets away with a free place that afternoon. Mr Nguyen is relieved and grateful. A no with a next step is much more helpful than a bare no.
Tell him there is nothing available and suggest he asks a relative to help out
It is true you have no spaces, but Mr Nguyen is left to sort it himself and feels the service did not try. A phone call to other educators would have cost you ten minutes.
I'm worried I'm doing it wrong. Today a child asked if she could go home early, and I let her call her mum. I didn't know if that was allowed. I also forgot to put it in the daily record. Am I in trouble?
Reassure her it is all fine and tell her to forget about the record this once
Tara feels better, but the record is missing a call that could matter later. You were kind but skipped the teaching part, and she still does not know what the rules are.
Tell her she should have known better and has to complete the training again right away
Tara stops sharing her worries with you, and next time she hides a mistake. A coordinator whom people fear gets fewer honest reports, not better practice.
Thank her for telling you, go through what is expected, and add the note together
Tara relaxes. Together you add a late entry, clearly marked. She leaves with a clear idea of what to record, and she feels safe asking you the next time.
How it went
By the end of the day the pool gate was latched, Mr Nguyen had a place for his son, and Tara had a clearer idea of her record-keeping. Coordinating family day care means holding firm on safety while staying warm and supportive. Could you be both the friendly face and the person who says no?
This is a simplified, fictional situation to help you explore. It is not professional instruction or a test of your ability.
Case study: The storm day
A fictional case set in a family day care coordination office and the home-based services it supports.
The situation
Marisol was a family day care educator who cared for five children in her home. On a hot afternoon, a storm cut the power just before pick-up time, and the road at the end of her street was flooded. The phone network was patchy. Two parents were stuck on the other side of the flooded road, and one child, a toddler called Mateo, had started to cry because the house had gone dark.
What they did
Marisol gathered the children in the lounge room, away from the windows, and lit a torch for a story. She gave the older children a job: holding the torch. She kept trying to reach the parents, sending texts as the signal came and went, and rang her coordinator, who confirmed the parents' emergency contacts. Parents arrived over the next two hours. She kept a written record of when each child left and who collected them.
How it turned out
All five children were collected safely, and Mateo fell asleep in her lap before his father arrived. The coordinator reviewed the emergency plan with Marisol the next week and updated the contact list. Several parents wrote to thank her for how calm she had stayed.
What would you do?
- What do you think helped Marisol keep the children calm?
- Why did the written record of who collected each child matter?
- How would you prepare for a day when nothing goes to plan?