Our Program and Approach

Name: KU Children's Services
Price range: $

At KU Galston, we believe childhood is a time for children to be children, where they can play in a safe, happy and inviting environment. We aim to create a sense of belonging where children can develop self-confidence, feel valued, connect with others and develop relationships.

Our play-based program intentionally provides opportunities and activities based upon the Early Years Learning Framework, for your child to discover and pursue their own interests and strengths.

Our program offers children the opportunity to engage in a wide variety of learning experiences and activities, each specifically designed to promote children’s confidence as capable, active participants in their own learning. 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.

At KU Galston, we are proud of our reputation within the local community of providing rich education and care that concentrates on individual children in a family-focussed and supportive way.

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

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 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 Galston, our specialisation is environmental sustainability.

We incorporate this into our program through practises such as minimising packaging, reviewing our waste, reducing our environmental footprint, sustainable diets, our worm farm, composting, gardening, our vegetable patch, cooking experiences and our recycled water tank.

We feel that the children benefit from this specialisation, because it teaches them sustainable practices to take forward into their childhood and adult life. It ensures they are aware of their external environment and treat it with the love and respect it deserves.

Our Quality

Our centre has been independently assessed by the NSW Department of Education 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...

“I love arriving to preschool and seeing the children actively engaged in activities. There is a hum of activity, with busy little bees playing and learning. I see all the teachers sitting among the children reading books, assisting with the latest puppet show, playing games and helping with craft. It warms my heart. I know that my children are getting a head start by starting their early learning years in this educational and nurturing environment. I am so pleased that I have gotten to share and be part of this preschool for six years.” - KU Galston parent

“I am absolutely delighted with the service provided by KU Galston Preschool. It is well organised; the staff are professional, friendly, caring, supportive and approachable. My son settled in really quickly and is extremely happy there.” - KU Galston 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, not within four walls. We work hard to create beautiful, interesting, homelike learning environments for children – whatever our setting.

We are fortunate to be located in a tranquil, rural setting next to Galston Public school.

Our playground is designed to allow children to explore nature and discover the natural environment. We want children to be able to dig in the mud, climb trees, discover and learn about insects and enjoy connecting with nature. The many activities we offer enable children to immerse themselves in the natural elements of their surroundings and feel inspired to create, imagine and play. We have a dry creek running through our playground, which encourages imagination.

Our Reconciliation Action Plan

KU was proud to launch its inaugural Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) in 2016. At KU Galston, 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

Hat and Sunscreen

Transition to School

Public Transport

Play-based Learning

Parking

Outdoor Play

Storypark

Education for Sustainability

Vanessa Woods

Director

Vanessa is a university qualified teacher with over 25 years’ experience working with young children. She has a Bachelor of Education/Diploma of Teaching in Early Childhood Education and has been the Director of KU Galston Preschool since March 2024.

Vanessa is committed to partnering with families to ensure the best outcomes for children. She is committed to ensuring learning environments are designed to reflect the third teacher.

Our Team

Our team of early childhood educators are qualified, experienced, caring and highly motivated. We are a small, cohesive team that values relationships with children and families and strives to develop the children’s interests. All staff hold specialist qualifications in early childhood education and 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 Galston Preschool are:

Fee	Amount
4 year old Start Strong Fee Relief fee	$10.50
3 year old Start Strong Fee Relief fee	$18.00
Start Strong Equity Fee Relief fee	FREE
Unfunded fee	$84.00

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 Fee Relief Fee (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.