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

It’s been a long journey, but educator Nirmala finally feels as if she has found a family day care service that can provide her with the right long term support.

Nirmala was not always an educator. Originally she qualified in accounting and worked for many years in the shipping sector in India. After she immigrated to Australia and had her first child she decided to change to a more family friendly career.

“I like to keep myself busy, and I have a very supportive partner which helped me to enrol and complete new studies while looking after my children,” she says.

After completing a Diploma in Childcare and a long day care work placement she started her business as a Family Day Care educator in early 2020. She was excited to operate her business under the City of Casey’s Family Day Care.

Family Day Care educators provide childcare in an approved educator’s home and many families love the small, intimate home based atmosphere.

Although it was slow first to attract enrolments, Nirmala very much enjoyed working as an educator.

“At first I was only looking after one child, but this helped me to gain experience. After about eight months I was looking after seven children,” she says.

Unfortunately things did not go as planned for Nirmala. As she started her Family Day Care at the beginning of the pandemic she had to deal with the many challenges posed by COVID-19.

Then, just as she was happy with her enroments, the City of Casey announced it was closing its Family Day Care service at the end of 2021.

Nirmala was determined to stay a Family Day Care educator. “I loved my job and I wanted to stay being an educator and keep giving good care to children in a small, happy setting,” she says.

Together with several other educators she decided to transfer her business to a new Family Day Care provider. She wanted to have as much support as possible with the documentation and strict compliance that is required to operate a Family Day Care.

“I was looking for a provider who would have a similar standard to the City of Casey,” says Nirmala.

Unfortunately she had some frustrations with her new Family Day Care service. These mainly concerned difficulties with communication and concerns around obtaining correct documentation.

Nirmala was keen to avoid any extra stress so she decided she needed to make another change of service provider.

“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.

So far the change to Windermere has suited Nirmala well. “I like the reassurance of having all the policies, documents and procedures that I need to access to run my Family Day Care properly;” she says.

She also appreciates the friendly Windermere team who are always ready to lend a hand if she has a concern or query. “They have all been very friendly and so far I am very happy with Windermere. They have supplied all the documents I need and organised all the safety checks very quickly,” she says.

With the backing of Windermere Nirmala is now looking forward to doing what she does best, supporting the children in her Family Day Care.

Want to know more about becoming a Windermere Family Day Care Educator? Call 1300 946 337 or visit Become a Family Day Care educator.

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

“At first I was only looking after one child, but this helped me to gain experience. After about eight months I was looking after seven children,” she says.

“I was looking for a provider who would have a similar standard to the City of Casey,” says Nirmala.

“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.