Aunty Clair’s Frequently Asked Questions
What are your opening hours?
Aunty Clair’s Family Day Care is open 8am – 5pm – Monday to Friday.
Do you currently have any vacancies?
Updated May 2023:
Current Vacancies – Casual Care.
To learn more about Casual Care, please click here.
There are currently NO Permanent Vacancies.
To join the short waiting list or make an enquiry, please click here.
I just want my child to be safe, happy, make friends and have a fun day. Is your Family Day Care right for me?
Aunty Clair’s FDC is a fun, inviting, warm and friendly place to come to each day.
Clair will welcome you and your child warmly from the very first visit and you will feel right at home.
ACFDC is well resourced with plenty of age-appropriate activities for both indoors and out and the specific interests of each individual Child is taken into consideration when setting up each day. The Children will have so much fun while playing and involved in meaningful learning opportunities, that they won’t even realise they are learning valuable skills for life.
Clair is kind, patient and attentive to the needs of each Child and excels in both positive reinforcement and appropriate use of strategies for managing the dynamics of the group. Clair stays current in CPR, First Aid, Asthma and Anaphylaxis training and ACFDC has many safety features such as safety gates, padlocked outdoor gates, non-slip mats and step stools, safety corners, cupboard locks, smoke alarm and fire equipment, tinted safety glass windows, safety blind cord wraps, non-slip step markers and an up to date first aid kit, just to name a few.
Are you Qualified in Child Care?
Yes! In fact, Clair has her Bachelor of Education in Early Childhood (4yr) Degree and has over 10 years’ experience in Long Day Care services.
Clair opened ACFDC in June 2016 so is also an experienced Family Day Care Educator.
Clair has a Police Check, Working With Children’s Check, First Aid and Asthma Anaphylaxis management certificates and is constantly updating skills through various Professional Development courses.
How much are your fees and Bond?
Full Fees before (CCS) are charged on a daily rate at $118.35 /9hr day.
This includes a $1.60 /hr levy charged by the Scheme ACFDC is registered with, which is All Areas Family Day Care.
There is a $300 fee to secure your enrolment and a one-off Enrolment Fee of $30 per family, payable to the Scheme.
Do you mean I’ll have to pay that each day!? ... And I don’t have the Bond at the moment.
You might be eligible for Child Care Subsidy (CCS). This will depend on your individual family circumstances and income. You can find this out by contacting Centrelink or applying for CCS online.
Families that are eligible for Child Care Subsidy may pay as little as around $23 per day, depending on their percentage of eligibility.
Fee to secure enrolment can be split onto 3 payments of $100 alongside fees by arrangement.
So how do I know how much MY fees will be?
If you know your CCS percentage and hours of eligibility, I can easily work out an estimate of what your daily fees may be. If your CCS has been approved already and you are unsure of what it is, you can check through your Centrelink Online Account. If you haven’t yet applied for CCS, here is a great place to start!
What age do you take?
I enrol children from approximately 2yrs to school age.
My child is only 21 months but I’m very interested, should I bother enquiring?
Yes! For Children a little younger, Clair will take in to account your Child’s individual needs, stage of development, days you require, other children enrolled on those days and the manageability of the group and may decide that in fact you should come for a visit and discuss the enrolment further.
This sounds great, can I come and visit?
I need 5 days and want to enrol asap! Can I start tomorrow?
Enrolment depends not only on the availability of days, but also the suitability of each individual family to the logistics and dynamics of ACFDC.
The best way to find out if ACFDC is right for you and you are right for us, is by reading all the FAQ’s, checking the Facebook page stories and pics here, looking over the Website, checking if the location suits you and filling out the simple enquiry form here.
What do you provide? What do I need to bring?
ACFDC provides sunscreen, wipes, Educational programs and communication App with families, an abundance of age appropriate resources, a safe and welcoming FDC approved environment, craft materials, fitted sheet for rest time, birthday cake and party activities on Birthdays.
You will need to provide nappies / pull ups, drink bottle with water only, morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea, small sheet and blanket for rest time. Wipes and sunscreen only if sensitive.
Do you provide food?
No. You will need to provide a lunch box with food for morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea, just as your Child will find will happen when he/she starts Kindergarten.
Do you do lessons or school readiness?
Absolutely! Clair both loves and excels at preparing Children for Kindergarten and takes an holistic approach to this, teaching life skills in various fun and interesting ways with attention to scaffolding each Child by working with his or her own unique individual interests, strengths and needs.
Families can be assured that Clair is a skilled and professional Bachelor trained, Early Childhood Educator and a child who attends ACFDC, will be able to transition to school seamlessly! If you want further convincing, check out the Google reviews here.
Do you do Vacation Care?
Yes! During school holidays I provide care for school aged children from Kindergarten to year 6. Places fill up quickly so don’t delay!
Are you a registered business or more like a casual Babysitter or Nanny?
ACFDC has an ABN and is registered with a Scheme called All Areas Family Day Care.
All Areas FDC are a local, Nationally Accredited, privately owned and operated Scheme with many Educators across the Sydney Metroplitan districts.
ACFDC isn’t classified as babysitting or a nanny service. Clair is a passionate, dedicated and experienced, Bachelor trained, Early Childhood Educator.
All Areas Family Day Care is proud to have achieved Meeting National Quality Standards for Assessment and Rating.
To read more about the Scheme ACFDC is registered with click here.
My child keeps on getting sick, is Family Day Care better than LDC for this?
ACFDC has a very firm illness policy that goes above and beyond that which can often be found in other services.
Families enrolled at ACFDC appreciate this very much and have respect for the FDC home in relation to this illness policy. They understand that while at times it may be inconvenient to keep children home until they are 100% symptom free, it is for the benefit of each family that attends as well as the Educator’s family, and enrolled families work together to minimise the spread of illness by keeping Children home until they are 100% symptom free.
It’s common for children to become ill while they are growing and their immunity is developing. It’s not so much that FDC is better than LDC, it’s more the case that there is a firm policy in place at ACFDC and it is adhered to, there are less children in Family Day Care and it’s in an Educator’s home, so the spread of illness is minimized due to those factors and having less children to come in contact with and a more targeted area to clean.
Where can I find photos of my child playing while in care?
ACFDC has a Facebook page with regular updates each week where you will find pictures and stories.
Developmental observations and events are documented in an App called Appsessment which links directly to email.
There is also a dedicated (hidden) family group on Facebook called “Stepping Stones” where pictures, notices, announcements, reminders and the like are shared specifically with enrolled families only.
New enrolments can request photos be sent throughout the day on Facebook or to their phone as their child settles into their new environment.
I don’t want photos of my child online!
No problem! You can indicate this on your enrolment form, we can discuss what you do and don’t approve and your request will be strictly adhered to.
You will still be sent photos to your preferred method ie. Phone, email, messenger and be provided with the link to the Developmental Observations completed in Appsessment. These will only be shared with you
Why do you have a 2 day minimum enrolment?
Children attending a new service can sometimes take a little while to settle in. Often, the more days they attend the quicker they will settle into their new environment with their new friends and new Educator.
Clair intends for children to develop a sense of belonging as quickly as possible so that the Child can feel safe, secure and has trust in her as soon as possible, so the fun and learning can begin. When a Child attends only 1 day per week, they have 6 days between the next to forget their previous fun day in care and within a month, have only attended 4 days. Families may wonder why their child isn’t settling in, they may still cry at drop off and not want to attend and it has been a whole month already – but the child attending 1 day per week, has in fact only attended 4 days out of 30, with large gaps in between.