Tamworth's top family day care provider loves her job

"I've always loved working with children - I find it so rewarding, watching them grow," she said.

"With family day care, they arrive in the morning, you spend all day with them, and you get to tell their mum or dad at the end of the day all about their achievements.

"When they put their little arms around you and tell you they love you, up to 50 times a day ... who would not want to do that?"

Mrs Pauling's commitment to providing childcare services has been recognised by the 2023 Excellence in Family Day Care Awards (FDCA), being named Educator of the Year for Tamworth and the North West.

The award acknowledges the "meaningful and unparalleled work" Mrs Pauling does as an early learning professional, and "the support you provide to children, families and your community" as a family day care educator, according to FCDA CEO Andrew Paterson.

Mr Paterson said the FDCA program was the only national event of its kind for family day care educators, who made up one of the largest national networks of women in small business, "turning their passion for childcare into a rewarding career".

While a sole operator, Mrs Pauling works under the umbrella of Tamworth Family Day Care.

In January 2023, Mrs Pauling marked 20 years of working as an early childhood educator, and said to have received the FDCA award was a lovely acknowledgement in the same year.

Her childcare program is based around the Early Years Learning Framework and interest-led, play-based learning activities tailored to each child.

Mrs Pauling credits her success as a long-term childcare educator to having an environment which is "calm, nurturing, warm, loving and caring".

"I provide space to inspire little minds to be creative, develop and grow at their own pace, with a foundation based on building life skills and problem-solving, while always valuing and being respectful of parents and their cultural background," she said.

Working from her home in Kootingal, Mrs Pauling looks after up to 4 children aged between 0 to 13. In the past 20 years, she estimates she has cared for more than 200.

Originally a hairdresser, when Mrs Pauling had her children she threw herself into supporting the local school community and the wider community.

"I used to spend nearly every day at the local school helping in the classroom, running the clothing pool and doing as much as I could to be around and support my children," she said.

When her youngest child headed to high school, Mrs Pauling soon realised she missed looking after children, and that's when she started to consider a new career in childcare.

Once the decision was made, Mrs Pauling undertook the necessary training, which she has continued to update regularly, and has never looked back.

Mrs Pauling said independent, home-based operators such as herself could offer a "more personal" childcare service than larger centres.

"The child comes to you in the morning and you spend all day with that child doing everything with them, and at the end of the day you can report on every minute of the day to the mum or dad when they come in and ask how the day's been," she said.

"The larger centres have a lot more children to care for and things happen at a much faster pace.

"[In a home-based child care centre], especially for babies, it's more personalised and you can form an attachment with the child and they child with you because it's a smaller group.

"Smaller groups are also less intimidating for some children."

READ ALSO:

Mrs Pauling enjoys being able to work from home and being around children everyday.

"They can teach you so much," she said. "I'm always astounded by things children teach me with their quirky little ways.

"I love spending time with them, teaching them to learn at a pace that suits them and watching them achieve something you might have been working on for a long time - then all of a sudden they've got it.

"Oh my gosh, that's just so rewarding."

After 20 years in the sector, Mrs Pauling has noticed many changes, in particular increased demand due to pressure for parents to return to the workforce as soon as possible.

"There's such a [child care] shortage, I wish I could do more to help families but I can only do so much," she said.

"The biggest concern for parents is knowing their child is somewhere they know their child feels happy all day."

Mrs Pauling admits, spending your day with only children for company can have its challenges, but says: "I wouldn't change the job, I love it."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: