Baw Baw Shire noted for excellence in FDC with 12 award nominations

Family day care (FDC) educators in Victoria’s Baw Baw Shire have received 12 nominations in the upcoming 2020 Excellence in Family Day Care Awards, with winners to be announced at a gala event in October.

The annual awards recognise the amazing work done by educators, coordinators and services in the FDC sector to deliver high quality early childhood education and care (ECEC) to children across Australia. They are the only national awards dedicated entirely to the FDC sector.

The following nominations have been received:

• Service of the Year (Victoria & Tasmania Region) – Baw Baw Family Day Care

• Coordinator of the Year (Victoria & Tasmania Region) – Julie Metselaar

• Educator of the Year (Victoria & Tasmania Region) – Jody-Lynne Banfield

• Educator of the Year (Victoria & Tasmania Region) – Anne Bell

• Educator of the Year (Victoria & Tasmania Region) – Poorni De Silva

• Educator of the Year (Victoria & Tasmania Region) – Amy Ellis

• Educator of the Year (Victoria & Tasmania Region) – Tracy Lechte

• Educator of the Year (Victoria & Tasmania Region) – Belinda Ryer

• Educator of the Year (Victoria & Tasmania Region) – Rachael Smith

• Educator of the Year (Victoria & Tasmania Region) – Martha Smith

• Educator of the Year (Victoria & Tasmania Region) – Sophie Gray

• Educator of the Year (Victoria & Tasmania Region) – Briony Thomas

During 2019/20, 31 FDC educators have provided 140,135 hours of care to 388 children from 201 families across the Shire.

The Baw Baw Shire FDC team are “a consistently high-performing service”, rated as Exceeding the National Standards under the National Quality Framework, and have received multiple nominations and awards in previous years, including four awards won in 2019. 

Mayor Danny Goss congratulated the team and individuals who have received an award nomination, some for the second year in a row, saying “this is an incredibly professional team providing consistently high-quality care to children and families in our community. It’s been an especially challenging year so far due to COVID-19 and I praise the team for adapting to the new requirements and restrictions.”

All nominees will be invited to the gala dinner in October (COVID-19 restrictions pending) where winners will be announced.

For more information about the awards, go to 2020 Excellence in Family Day Care Awards.