Education

Raising happy, healthy, engaged children is the goal for parents, carers and educators alike.  But what does it take to make learning and education a lifelong joy? Can educational outcomes be personalised for each child, no matter what their ability? and when should learning begin? 

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How educator Jo creates a place of belonging in her Family Day Care

Regional Educator Winner of Family Day Care Australia Awards 2023, educator Jo shares how family day care provides the best outcomes for children.

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Windermere holiday care program: a place for every child

Find out how Windermere's holiday care program ensured young Eliza, who has type 1 diabetes, could safely attend the program.

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Nurturing our leaders: Transformational Leadership program

The 2023 leadership programs are underway. We spoke to Jenny Field, Program Coordinator Counselling, on her experience in the Transformational Leadership program.

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Educator Chris shares top tips for a successful Family Day Care business

Educator Chris shares her tried and tested tips for running a successful a family day care business.

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Aimee shares the joys and benefits of family day care

Aimee started her own family day care business as it allows her to be her own boss, have more flexibility and provide better care.

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Meet Chloe Weir, nominee for Educator of the Year, 2022 with Family Day Care Australia

Chloe moved into Family Day Care because of the flexibility it offered her to be available for her own family after her daughter was born.

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How to deal with a child’s tantrum in public

Know what to do when your child has a tantrum in public and find ways to reduce tantrums occurring.

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The parenting program that works magic on challenging behaviours

The three session program provides parents and caregivers with tools to manage challenging behaviours and to proactively encourage positive behaviours.

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Stephanie became a family day care educator for her children

Stephanie became a family day care educator because she wanted to provide the best possible care to her own two children.

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How family day care helped Mary Ellen's children thrive

“I tell everyone about Family Day Care, we love it,” she says. She says that her children have hugely benefitted because all their educators have really got to know her children and their personalities.

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Meet Hannah, Occupational Therapist in Windermere’s Allied Health Graduate Program

"I really liked that Windermere uses a key worker approach. Being in a multi-disciplined team means you can draw on wider support and the expertise of the team if you need it,” she says.

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Meet Jodie, Physiotherapist in Windermere’s Allied Health Graduate Program

“I absolutely recommend doing a student placement with Windermere. I’ve already put into practice so many skills that I learnt and a large part of gaining employment was due to my experience at Windermere,”

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Student placement opportunity helps Rebecca to make a difference

“I absolutely recommend doing a student placement with Windermere. I’ve already put into practice so many skills that I learnt and a large part of gaining employment was due to my experience at Windermere,”

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How educator Nirmala found a Family Day Care that works for her

“I’d heard Windermere had a good reputation and was also local to my area. So I contacted them and within a week they had the paperwork organised and I had signed up under their Family Day Care,” she says.

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Natasha and her family are thriving since she became an educator

“Being a Family Day Care educator lets me get the best of both worlds. I can still work and support my family, but I can also care for my children while doing something that I have a passion for,”

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Virtual NDIS Expo, September 2020

This was the first time the expo was held virtually.

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Become a Family Day Care Educator Information Session - 2024

Become a Family Day Care Educator information sessions

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Kids on Track is going online

Moving the program online presents an opportunity to reach more vulnerable children, empowering them to build the foundations for a safer, more stable future.

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Changing careers from Long Day Care to Family Day Care

“I would never have considered Family Day Care as an option if it had not been offered to me, but I knew and trusted the Windermere management so I took a huge leap of faith. I am so glad that I did.”

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Why is reading to children important?

Reading with young children is often described as one of the most important things you can do as a parent or carer. This is because early reading (or reading to children when they are young) assists literacy development and also enriches life experience, both in childhood and adulthood.

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Being a Family Day Care Educator during COVID-19

“Windermere went out of their way to treat all the educators fairly. Thanks to Windermere and JobKeeper I could still pay my bills as I normally did.”

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5 ways to look after your mental health

It is important to look after your mental health in tough times. Here are five simple things that you can start doing now.

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Meet Christine, Early Intervention and Therapy Services, Senior Speech Pathologist

I love working closely with families and creating really meaningful professional relationships. I enjoy helping children achieve little and big goals.

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Want to provide allied health care under the NDIS but don't know where to start?

"If allied health professionals partner with us there is no need to go through the extensive NDIS registration process. In turn we would refer the appropriate consumers to their services."

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Extra support for your child to transition to school or kinder

The children who are supported by Windermere’s group programs include pre-schoolers with extreme separation anxiety, young children who are having trouble adjusting to structured routines or social situations and those who need support to develop fine and gross motor skills.

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Why Windermere’s Family Day Care Educators enjoy guaranteed pay

“I may be self employed and contracted to Windermere but I am paid consistently and regularly. I don't have the worry of feeling I need to chase up payments from clients at all,” says Danielle.

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Simple strategies to help you child settle into kinder or care

Whether it is starting at kindergarten or childcare, there are some practical things you can do to assist your little ones to make the transition.

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6 ways for your children to be healthy eaters

We’ve listed some practical ways you can ensure that mealtimes are happier and healthier rather than feeling like you are a member of the “food police”.

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5 things you can do to improve your child’s literacy

We’ve developed a list of suggestions that you can do with your preschooler to help foster their emerging literacy (reading and writing skills).

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Children have field day with outdoor learning

The outdoor classroom setting also allows the children to connect with nature, themselves and their community.

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Building Learning With Family Day Care Outings

Excursions are valuable because “children learn by being hands on and doing things for themselves.”

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A kinder day at Windermere

The children have access to both the indoor and outside play areas during the day. There is a variety of toys provided which encourage imaginative play, fine and gross motor skills and problem solving.

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Need nurturing, high quality family day care?

“We use professional development to identify problems and concerns and support our educators to find and use appropriate resources,” says Robyn.

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Family Day Care Educator combines being a mum with career

From a personal point of view Danielle says being a Family Day Care Educator allows her to combine earning an income while being available to her own children. “It is the best job on the planet for running your family and your own business,” she says.

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ELC and kinder children graduate together

Poppy, William, Frankie, Maali, Allira, Heathcliff, Peta, Annabelle and Lorienne, who are now five and six years old, have all attended the centre since its first year of operation in 2013.

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Why parents love family day care

The flexible hours mean that the Family Day Care option is particularly suited for working parents and carers who have non-standard work hours or school age children who require before and after school care.

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New kinder teacher brings ground breaking change

The Abecedarian teaching approach is an evidence based teaching approach that prioritises language development in young children. Learn how we implemented the teaching approach here.

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Young mums, early educators

Striking the right balance between work and family life can be tough, but that was never an issue for a Garfield mother who managed to roll both into one.

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Beating Holiday Stress

The festive season is meant to be a time of joy, but for many it can be a time of stress, anxiety, disappointment and loneliness. Things don't always go to plan, so here are some steps you can take to help manage stress and anxiety during the holidays.

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Help Cally & Makrem this Christmas

The festive season is well and truly upon us and for most of us it's a precious and happy time spent with family and friends, but for some it can be a difficult and lonely time. Circumstances can mean families, like Cally's and Makrem's, find themselves needing the most basic of items - food, money to pay bills and gifts for children.

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Keeping more kids on track

Delving into topics including drug and alcohol awareness, cyber bullying and safety, anger management and anxiety and depression: this year alone Windermere's 8 week Kids on Track program has reached over 120 grade 5 and 6 students, giving them the skills to make better informed life choices.

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Flipping Family Violence on its head

Two women are killed every week as a result of family violence - across our work with families, schools and community groups we strive to drive this number down. Our Building Respectful Relationships schools program creates and builds positive perspectives and behaviours in students around gender. This year alone we have reached over 170 year 9 students at Cranbourne Secondary College.

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Inclusive Practice

Each industry has its own buzz words, phrases, and acronyms and as an Educator it’s easy to use these when communicating with a parent. However, it’s vitally important that parents and carers both understand what inclusive practice is and what it means for their child.

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Harmony Day 2016

'The beauty of this program, which engages students in a range of activities, is its simplicity. By coming together, they drop any preconceived ideas they may have held and realise​ just how much they have in common.'

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DIY Autism Starter Kit

To help determine the best way to meet the needs of people with ASD, Windermere has developed a ASD kit to help case workers and carers.

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Integrating a special needs child successfully into long day care

Eve was a premature baby and had a lot of health issues including trouble feeding resulting in delayed growth. This meant having a peg fitted into Eve's tummy to ensure she received the correct amount of nutrients and kilojoules everyday which was closely monitored by a dietician. When we first met Eve and her family, they where using a long day care service however, their GP referred them to Windermere.

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Building Respectful Relationships

We are thrilled to say that our new Initiative Building Respectful Relationships has been a great success. Over 100 Year 8 students from Cranbourne Secondary College, underwent the program facilitated by two members of our Counselling team with specialist knowledge of family violence, relationships, sexual assault and gender-based violence.

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