Name: KU Children's Services
Price range: $

Our Program and Approach

At KU Wahroonga, we are proud of our reputation within the heart of the local community of providing rich education and care for more than 65 years.

Our centre is a welcoming and nurturing space where each child is immersed in a rich tapestry of educational experiences – a space where children are supported to be their own, unique selves, growing and developing a sense of belonging within the preschool community.

Our philosophy supports the National Quality Framework, which was introduced to ensure consistent, high quality early childhood education for all children, and our program offers children the opportunity to engage in a wide variety of learning experiences, each tailored to promote children’s confidence as capable, active participants in their own learning.

Each day, children are able to choose from a variety of planned experiences, and are able to do these either individually or in groups. Children are presented with a range of activities including gardening, arts and crafts, music and movement, physical play, block building, sand and water play, science experiments, early numeracy activities such as counting and measurement, and early literacy activities such as reading, drawing and writing.

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 educators, children and families through many generations, and we look forward to the opportunity of including your family in the life of our centre.

Our Specialisation

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

At KU Wahroonga, we specialise in emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence is the ability for the children to identify with their feelings and regulate them, to be empathetic with their friends and have social connections. We explore with the children their feelings and emotions, the development and fostering of their friendships and social interactions and the importance of resilience in their learning and wellbeing.

We feel that the children benefit from this because developing emotional intelligence fosters self confidence and enhances children’s ability to interact with others throughout childhood and beyond.

Our Quality

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

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

"We have had three children attend KU Wahroonga and have always been thoroughly happy with the care and learning provided. We love that the children learn through play and have seen our children thrive. Our two eldest children are now at school and they often say they wish they could go back to preschool, in our minds that says it all." – KU Wahroonga parent

"We have been a part of the wonderful KU Wahroonga preschool community for the past three and a half years, first with our oldest child, now with our second and have always been impressed with the level of care and attention that has been given to each child. The lovely facilities, where they learn as they play, and the caring staff mean that I can be sure my child is always happy and well looked after. Thank you KU!" – KU Wahroonga parent

Our Environment

Each KU centre is unique. The best outcomes for children are created within relationships and interactions between children and educators, and children and their families, not within four walls. We work hard to create beautiful, interesting, homelike learning environments for children – whatever our setting.

Our centre is set in a lovely, leafy environment that encompasses many natural play areas. The children are involved in the care and development of the outdoor environment through gardening, recycling and suggesting ideas to improve the outdoor play areas, for example, the rock and mud area.

Our playground is designed to maximise the use of the natural environment. We want children to be able to dig in the mud, discover and learn about insects and enjoy connecting with nature. We offer stimulating activities that arouse children’s curiosity and encourage them to choose from a variety of planned experiences, expanding their learning potential. 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 Wahroonga, we began our journey to develop our centre’s RAP in 2018 and we are proud to present it here .

Other Features

Hat and Sunscreen

Transition to School

Public Transport

Play-based Learning

Outdoor Play

Storypark

Melissa Puckeridge

Director

Melissa is a university qualified early childhood teacher with over 25 years’ experience working with children. She has been working at KU Wahroonga since 2009. She has a passion for emotional intelligence and encouraging each child to reach their potential in a fun and dynamic learning environment.

As Educational Leader and Director, Melissa takes an active role in promoting educators’ practice, especially those aspects that involve building and nurturing relationships with families, curriculum decision making, teaching and learning. When educators establish respectful and caring relationships with children and families, they are able to work together to make curriculum and learning experiences relevant, interesting and fun for children at KU Wahroonga Preschool.

Our Team

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 educators are the most important component of our high quality program.

The daily fees for 2024 at KU Wahroonga Preschool are:

Fee	Amount
4 year old Start Strong Fee Relief fee	$9.50
3 year old Start Strong Fee Relief fee	$35.00
Start Strong Equity Fee Relief fee	FREE
Unfunded fee	$100.50

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.