KU Bligh Park Preschool

4a Alto Avenue
NORTH SEAFORTH NSW 2092
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  • Monday to Friday 8:00am - 3:30pm
Preschoolers NSW Fee Relief – Preschool

Our Program and Approach

At KU Bligh Park, our educational program is based on child development and is tailored to meet the needs of individual children. We are guided by the National Quality Standards and the Early Years Learning Framework, and as such we have a play-based learning program.

We provide a thoughtful, calm and respectful environment, where children feel safe, stimulated and challenged. We embrace diversity and work with families in achieving collaborative goals for each child, allowing them to develop confidence, independence and resilience.

At KU Bligh Park, we begin our day outside in the garden, where children can connect with nature, making their own observations of changes and the creatures that may be hurrying about in their world. Children are encouraged to respect other living things who share our environment. Our native bee hive is a precious addition to our garden, as the children observe the bees and are often inspired to create artwork representing something they have noticed. Our outside environment is a beautiful, inviting space. Children are empowered and have a strong sense of belonging as they work alongside educators in the garden, understanding that our environment takes love and care to create and maintain. Our garden is a peaceful space where children can play, imagine, investigate and explore, enjoy learning, and be inspired to continue learning. It is an environment conducive to cooperation and collaboration.

We aim to establish immediate rapport and a sense of belonging in our community, as families arrive through the front door.

We greatly value the strong relationships between our staff, children and families, and we look forward to the opportunity of including your family in the life of our centre.


Our Special Interest

In addition to the high quality well-rounded programs we offer, all KU centres are also encouraged to develop an area of special interest.

At KU Bligh Park, our special interest is developing meaningful and authentic relationships with children, their families and our environment. Our educators are facilitators of conversations where children are encouraged to listen to others and participate in discussions respectfully as they learn about their world.

We incorporate this into our program through activities such as our morning meeting, which is a non-threatening space for children to have a voice and feel valued. This is a platform where children explore the power of language as they learn to question and respond to their own curiosity, as well as responding to others in a supportive environment. It is in this space that children are challenged to think, reason and find solutions.

Language is extended as children learn to sing as a group, learning songs that tell a story, have a repetitive sequence or nonsense songs that make us all laugh! We believe music is a wonderful tool for children’s learning, as we stretch the children’s capacity to learn complex songs. Meredith is voice trained, having studied at the Conservatorium of Music in Sydney, and loves to share this with the children in our service. Helen, who works every Wednesday, is also musically trained and the children enjoy a different experience as they learn to sing with the guitar or with the piano. Music is a form of self-expression, so it too is another language. The children are learning that different music arouses different emotions and whilst some music makes us feel sad, there is always a happy tune to conclude our experience. We welcome parents who may be willing to share their musical skills with us too.

We are fortunate to have a large collection of children’s literature in our library that reflects our diverse interests. This is where children can be read a story by an educator, delivered with theatre and animation. The children also enjoy looking at books themselves. It is here that children learn to move through a book from cover to cover and left to right.


Our Quality



Our centre has been independently assessed by the NSW Department of Education under the National Quality Standard, and are proud to be rated as 'Exceeding' the National Quality Standard.

However what matters most is what our families think....

“KU Bligh Park is the most wonderful preschool I have ever been to. All the kids are happy and engaged. Whenever I arrive to collect my child, the staff are always involved in the kids' activities, not just supervising. The range of options for the kids is brilliant and the centre is always clean, colourful and inviting. We feel very privileged to attend such a fantastic school and be a part of such a caring community of families.” - KU Bligh Park Parent
“My children have been supported by extremely nurturing teachers, who provide such a stimulating and fun preschool day. Both the outdoor and indoor environments are organised in such a beautiful way that as an adult I want to stay and explore, so I can only imagine how exciting it must look to little eyes as they arrive each morning. KU has provided such a strong foundation as my children embark on their lifelong learning adventure.” - KU Bligh Park Parent

Our Environment

Each KU centre is unique. The best outcomes for children are created within relationships and interactions between children and staff, and children and their families. We work hard to create beautiful, interesting learning environments for children – whatever our setting.

KU Bligh Park is an early childhood service located on Sydney’s Northern Beaches and caters for 30 children each day. It is a purpose built centre constructed in the early 1960’s and is set in a residential area that backs onto natural bushland.

Our playground is designed to maximise the use of the natural environment and allow children to play and explore as they would in their own backyard. We offer stimulating activities that arouse children’s curiosity and encourage them to choose from a variety of planned experiences, expanding their learning potential. Our playground includes natural elements such as sand, water, leaves, twigs, and kitchen gardens. We also offer important gross motor challenges for climbing and physical play. We foster the holistic development of each child so they feel inspired to create, imagine and play.


Our Reconciliation Action Plan

KU was proud to launch its inaugural Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) in 2016. At KU Bligh Park, we began our journey to develop our centre’s RAP in 2018 and we are proud to launch it now. Please view it here.


Other Features

Extended Hours
Hat and Sunscreen
Transition to School
Public Transport
Parking
Outdoor Play
Play-based Learning
Storypark
Education for Sustainability

photo of Mary Stenmark

Mary Stenmark

Director

Mary is a university qualified early childhood teacher with over 20 years’ experience in the early childhood sector, working in a variety of roles. She has been an early childhood teacher and Director with KU since 2006 and commenced her current role as Director at KU Bligh Park in 2021.

Prior to entering the early childhood educational field, Mary worked as a Restaurateur and in the contemporary visual arts as a Gallery Manager and visual artist, working with organisations to develop their educational and fundraising programs. The legacy of these professions and interests informs her educational practice and shapes the curriculum she provides for children. Mary is motivated to actively explore and research pedagogy that focuses upon and represents, authentic and inclusive cultural practice, social justice and children’s identity. She strongly believes that children need time and space to explore and build upon their knowledge of the world through dynamic learning environments. She is equally passionate about the arts and literacy and the role they play in shaping children’s voices and lives.

Our team of early childhood educators are qualified, experienced, caring and highly motivated. All hold specialist qualifications in early childhood education. We believe that the positive interactions children have with our staff are the most important component of our high quality program.

The daily fees for 2024 at KU Bligh Park Preschool are:

Fee Amount
4 year old Start Strong Fee Relief fee $3.50
3 year old Start Strong Fee Relief fee $32.00
Start Strong Equity Fee Relief Fee FREE
Unfunded Fee $98.50

Which fee will you pay?

The NSW Government is committed to ensuring that all children in NSW can participate in 600 hours of quality preschool education in the year before school, no matter where they live or what their circumstances are.

To ensure that affordability is not a barrier for families with young children, the NSW Government provides Start Strong funding making 600 hours, or 15 hours per week, of preschool participation in the two years before school more affordable. In KU preschools, this 15 hours per week is met by enrolling for two days per week.

Start Strong Free Preschool (3 year olds and 4 year olds)

From 2024, the NSW government has provided additional fee relief funding, based on $4,220 per eligible child. This enables NSW preschools to reduce the daily fee as much as possible, within the Start Strong funding parameters.

This funding is for children who turn 3 or 4 years of age by 31 July in the preschool year and are enrolled in a preschool program for 15 hours per week. Across KU Preschools, the ‘15 hours’ is usually met by enrolling in two x 7.5 hour days per week.

Start Strong fee relief can only be accessed at one service, either a preschool or long day care service. This ensures as many children as possible can access affordable early childhood education.

Start Strong Equity Fee Relief Fee

The NSW government provides further funding for children who meet the Start Strong Equity funding criteria. If you think you may be eligible for Equity funding, please speak with the Preschool Director further about this.

Unfunded Fee

The Unfunded Fee is charged when a family has chosen to access the Start Strong fee relief at another community preschool or long day care service.