KU Figtree Preschool

77 Uralba Street
Figtree NSW 2525
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  • Monday to Friday 8:00am - 3:30pm
Preschoolers NSW Fee Relief – Preschool

Our Program and Approach

KU Figtree Preschool is a small community-based preschool offering education and care to 30 children each day between 3 years and school age.

Our philosophy is designed to focus on identity and belonging for all children with a program rich in language, literacy and creative expression, exploration, and investigation within a supportive community.

Our commitment to education and care in small groups enables educators to understand the individual interests and strengths of each child and work in partnership with families to ensure children are supported to be their own, unique selves, growing and developing a sense of belonging and empowerment.

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.

Each child's transition to school is facilitated by experiences that help develop confidence, independence, social skills, early literacy and numeracy through meaningful play-based experiences.

Educators provide warm, trusting relationships, predictable and safe environments and support and respect all aspects of every child's physical, emotional, social, cognitive, creative and spiritual being.

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 Focus

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

At KU Figtree Preschool, our focus is relationships and community. KU Figtree Preschool was established in 1971 and has become synonymous in the local area with care and early learning. Our long standing roots in Figtree have yielded strong relationships with families and the local community, fostering a sense of belonging.

We incorporate this into our program through activities such as preschool picnics and BBQs, social events and celebrations with families. Engagement with our local community occurs through visits by storytellers, community members and children’s performers, as well as through established links with aged-care members and schools.

We feel that the children benefit from this focus because it provides a wonderful history of preschool education built on meaningful relationships and friendships, and this cultivates feelings of community and belonging amongst the children.


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...

"It has been incredible to watch our daughter Abigail grow and develop over her time at KU Figtree. The teachers’ friendly, nurturing and professional manner have created such a warm and loving environment. Under their guidance, Abigail has learnt how to cooperate, take direction and learn in a safe and respectful environment. She feels secure at preschool and her confidence has grown so much, which has allowed her to explore, play, discover and learn with her peers. In fact my daughter cries when I tell her it’s not her day for preschool! My two sons have also attended the preschool and the programs in place at the preschool combined with the teacher’s dedication and enthusiasm has established a solid foundation before attending primary school, where they are continuing to thrive." – KU Figtree Preschool Parent
"My daughter attended KU Figtree for two years. The centre is run by a fantastic team and the environment is just great for children. The two years were filled with fun and learning and my daughter loved every minute of her time there. She still talks about the preschool and wishes she could go back there forever. I recommend KU Figtree to anyone in the area who has young children." – KU Figtree Preschool 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 which incorporate diversely cultural backgrounds – whatever our setting.

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.


Our Reconciliation Action Plan

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

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

photo of Elena Santarelli

Elena Santarelli

Director

(Monday – Tuesday)

Elena Santarelli is a university qualified Early Childhood teacher with 20 years experience working with children and their families. Her passion and dedication to early childhood education has continued throughout her working life, where she has enjoyed leading teams within numerous settings. She feels privileged to work with children and families, and to support educators within the local community, and firmly believes that bright futures begin with engaging, diverse and vibrant communities that support quality early learning for all children.

Elena values pedagogical practices that support these relationships and strives to create a learning environment that promotes belonging.

photo of Cheryl Collinson-Smith

Cheryl Collinson-Smith

Director

(Wednesday – Friday)

Cheryl has been teaching preschoolers for 37 years. Cheryl has a love for children's literature which lead to her publishing a children's story book. She is a motivated and energetic team leader, who ensures that each child receives their own unique and individualised developmental program, and is dedicated to the principles of the Early Years Learning Framework.

Cheryl’s experience in developing a child's curiosity and quest for learning has enabled her to build strong relationships with children and families. A child's health, safety and wellbeing are foremost in daily learning and play.

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 and families have with our staff are the most important component of our high quality program.

The daily fees for 2024 at KU Figtree Preschool are:

Fee Amount
4 year old Start Strong Fee Relief fee FREE
3 year old Start Strong Fee Relief fee $17.50
Start Strong Equity Fee Relief fee FREE
Unfunded fee $86.00

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 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.