Kooinda Workbase Child Care Centre

University of Newcastle, University Drive
CALLAGHAN NSW 2308
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  • Monday to Friday 7:30am - 6:00pm
Babies Toddlers Preschoolers NSW Fee Relief – Childcare

Our Program and Approach

At our centre childhood is celebrated. When they play and explore, children's imagination and curiosity is sparked – they enjoy learning, and are inspired to continue learning more.

The name ‘Kooinda’ means ‘a happy place’ in the local indigenous Awabakal language. Our focus is on ensuring we provide a happy, safe and accepting environment, which reflects and enriches the lives and identities of the children and families that attend our centre.

We believe that care and education are intertwined during early childhood and emphasise the importance of play-based learning within our program. We take a holistic approach to teaching and learning, recognising the physical, personal, social, cognitive, emotional and spiritual aspects of learning experiences and their connectedness. Our educators value and build on children’s interests, strengths, skills and knowledge to ensure their motivation and engagement in learning.

Our program provides children with the opportunity to develop and share their knowledge and expertise with their peers and the educators through a range of experiences such as gardening, investigating the flora and fauna, mud kitchen, frog pond, composting and worm farms, arts and crafts, music and movement, physical play, science, block building, sand and water play, early numeracy activities such as counting and measurement, and early literacy activities such as reading, drawing and writing.

At Kooinda, we give priority to nurturing genuine relationships and providing children with consistent emotional support in order to develop the skills and understandings they need to interact positively with others.

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.


We Focus On

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

At Kooinda, we focus on exploring the natural environment.

We utilise the natural environment of Kooinda and the University of Newcastle campus to deliver our program and focus on caring for our environment and developing children’s interest in creating a sustainable future.

We incorporate this into our program through regular bush and campus walks and investigative projects that incorporate science, art, maths, literacy and exploring the ecosystem of Kooinda. We want children to be able to dig in the mud, climb trees, discover and learn about insects and enjoy connecting with nature.

We feel that the children benefit from this focus, because it provides them with an understanding and developing knowledge of how our actions impact the environment.


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...

“Our boys have thrived on the supportive and caring environment offered at Kooinda. We always enjoy hearing about the diverse activities and experiences they have participated in. We are always impressed with the flexibility of Kooinda to accommodate the individual needs of each child. The Kooinda team work hard to include activities that link the children with the community and current events.” – Kooinda parent
"Our eldest daughter experienced the wonders of Kooinda for her formative years. Our youngest daughter is currently revelling in the centre’s Pre-School room. We cannot say enough delightful praises about both the permanent and casual staff. Aside from their consummate professionalism, their dedication to each and every child in their care, as individuals and in social development, is unsurpassable. Whatever my girls achieve in their lives will, at least in part, be completely attributable to the staff at Kooinda. We cannot thank you all enough for loving our daughters so completely.” – Kooinda 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.

At Kooinda, all children are given the opportunity to play in the same outdoor space. This provides lovely opportunities for siblings and friends to interact. We love seeing the wonderful relationships that develop between babies, toddlers and preschoolers.

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, grass, mud, leaves and twigs, and we also offer gross motor experiences such as climbing, jumping and physical play. We foster the holistic development of each child so they feel inspired to create, imagine and play.


Other Features

Child Care Subsidy
Cooked Meal
Extended Hours
Hat and Sunscreen
Transition to School
Play-based Learning
Public Transport
Parking
Outdoor Play
Nappies
Storypark
Education for Sustainability
University Qualified Educators
Experienced Staff
Lunch

photo of Sally Walsh

Sally Walsh

Director

Sally is a university qualified early childhood teacher with over 20 years’ experience working in Early Childhood Education. Sally has been working with KU since 2016. She joined the team at KU Kooinda in 2019.

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.

At Kooinda, we pride ourselves on consistency of educators and this is demonstrated in the long tenure of our staff. The majority of our staff have been working at Kooinda between five to 20+ years. We enjoy sharing our special interests such as music, landscape design, storytelling and cooking with the children and families.

The daily fee for 2024 at Kooinda is: $143

This is the full daily fee, commencing 5 February 2024. If you are eligible for Child Care Subsidy, this will reduce the daily fee you are charged.

In an increasingly competitive marketplace, KU has remained very proudly a not for profit provider of quality education for more than 125 years. Our fees are designed to cover the operational costs of delivering the unique KU learning experience, and to ensure KU can continue delivering those experiences for many years to come.

About Child Care Subsidy

Child Care Subsidy is the main payment to assist families with the costs of childcare. It is paid directly to the childcare provider and passed onto families as a fee reduction wherever families meet the criteria. The level of subsidy you receive, as well as the number of hours you will be subsidised, depends on your individual family’s circumstances.

If you do not already have one, you will need a MyGov account linked to Centrelink to claim any subsidy you may be eligible for, and to find out more information, please contact Centrelink on 136 150 or visit https://www.dese.gov.au.

NSW Start Strong Fee Relief

From 2024, the NSW Government is providing additional fee relief funding based on $2,110 per eligible 4 year old child attending a preschool program within a long day care service. This funding is applied as a weekly credit to the gap fee after CCS has been applied or to full fees where a family does not receive CCS. The Start Strong Fee Relief will not impact CCS entitlements.

If your child is 3 years old and not yet 4 years old on, or before 31 July 2024 and enrolled at an eligible long day care service, you will receive up to $500 in fee relief.

Start Strong Fee Relief funding is for children who are 4 years old on or before 31 July 2024, and can only be accessed in one service. This could either be in a community preschool or long day care service. If you have a child who may be eligible, please discuss this with your service Director.

The NSW Department of Education requires parents to sign the ‘Fee Relief Declaration and Consent’ form at the time of enrolment. Your eligibility for Start Strong fee relief Funding is conditional upon signing this form.