Leah Uttley recognised in FDC Awards for second year running

Leah Uttley has been named as a regional award winner Family Day Care Australia 2023 Excellence in Family Day Care Awards for the second year in a row. 

 

Ms Uttley is a second generation family day care (FDC) educator who knew she wanted to work in the sector from a young age, with her mother also being an FDC educator. 

 

“We always had extra friends to play with as a child and the experiences Mum was providing for all the children meant that I got to benefit from that as well,” she shared with local news source Riot ACT. 

 

As she grew up, her involvement in her mother’s FDC service changed, and she began to help prepare resources, engage with the children and provide other assistance. 

 

After starting work in early childhood education and care (ECEC) in 2009, Ms Uttley opened her FDC service in 2018, which operates out of her home in South Canberra, a space she shares with her two children, now six and ten years old, who are enjoying the same privileges of growing up in FDC, just like she did. 

 

“My youngest was only six months old when I opened my FDC,” she shared with Riot ACT. “He has grown up exactly like me, with all of these different children coming in over the years, and he’s formed some really close friendships.”

 

These friendships are ones she hopes will last a lifetime – just as they have in her life. The relationships she has formed with the children in her care are what motivates her to continue her educator journey. 

 

“They become part of your family,” Ms Uttley said. “You can pick when they’re having a day where they need an extra cuddle and you can see when they might need some extra help in their development, because you are so close with them.”

 

Winners in the national Family Day Care Australia Excellence in Family Day Care Awards will be announced on Saturday, 25 November.

 

Read the original coverage of this story here.