ECEC Provider in Focus: Elite Family Day Care

Elite Family Day Care is an approved provider of Family Day Care (FDC) services in Western Australia which is owned and operated by Sonya Aylmore-Nash, who has over 28 years experience in the FDC sector. 

Ms Aylmore-Nash has multiple qualifications in education, business and franchising. 

What is the history of Elite Family Day Care?

Ms Aylmore-Nash opened the business in 2007, building on her experiences of being a teenager in her parent’s FDC service, being a FDC educator and being an FDC coordinator. 

Elite FDC began with four educators, and since that time has grown to be a network of over 100, collectively supporting 700 children and families throughout Western Australia.

What is the Elite Family Day Care vision and approach to learning? 

Elite Family Day Care celebrates and supports each koolang (child’s) unique learning journey within miya/kaalak (homes). 

Elite believes: 

•  Each Moort (family) has its own characteristics, strengths, and resources.
•  All Moort (families) have strengths.
•  Koolangka (Children) and their Moort (families) are part of a community.
•  Moort (Families) have the most influence on their koolangka (children).
•  Parents have interests, roles, and responsibilities in addition to their Moort (family) responsibilities.
•  There are many ways for a moort (family) to be involved with their koolangka (children’s) care.
•  Moort (Families) and Elite Childcare Educators have something to offer each other.

Are there any unique aspects to the Elite Family Day Care offering? 

Elite Family Day Care runs the “Our Families Learning Together: Ngalang Moort Dandjoo Kadadjiny” program, which is designed to improve participation in preschool programs and provide an effective and educationally rich transition to school program for more than 1000 children and families in Elite FDC environments across Western Australia, including in regional and remote areas. 

Elite Family Day Care facilitates the program with a focus on the following key areas:

– Improving the professional capability of Family Day Care educators in all areas of Western Australia, including regional and remote areas. 

– Embedding Aboriginal perspectives into the transition to school process.

– Increasing children’s enrolment, attendance, and preparation for preschool, with a focus on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and children living in regional, remote and very remote communities.

Additionally, the Elite Exclusives & Extras Program offers an opportunity for educators and their businesses to grow and develop by leveraging the decades of experience of the leadership team and their longstanding relationships within the broader early childhood education and care (ECEC) community. 

Through the program educators and parents have access to partnerships with Awe and Wonder, Educationall, Coles, In Safe Hands and more. 

What is the Elite Family Day Care approach to educator identity and professional development? 

Educators are initially supported with a dedicated business development mentor to assist them in building their business and ensuring compliance with legislation. 

Educational leaders then support FDC educators with programming, practice, and the development of their learning environments. 

The administration team supports with CCS, parent payments, navigating systems and documents and other administration aspects.

Overall the leadership team are “continually innovating and advocating for our educators trying to simplify processes, remove barriers and challenge the status quo.”

To learn more about Elite Family Day Care please see here.