KU Castlecrag Preschool

10 The Postern
CASTLECRAG NSW 2068
Get directions
  • Monday to Friday 8:00am - 3:30pm
Preschoolers NSW Fee Relief – Preschool
Enquire now Add me to waiting list
About This Centre Our Team Fees

Our Program and Approach

At KU Castlecrag, our 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.

We encourage children to laugh, think, question and learn. Their sense of self and confidence grows as they make connections with each other and build warm, trusting relationships with our team.

KU Castlecrag has been established for 60 years and has long held a reputation for excellence in the education of children aged 3-5 years. We operate within the Castlecrag community centre, boasting large and inviting natural play areas, encouraging children to explore, investigate and learn through play. 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 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.

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 KU Castlecrag, our area of focus is connecting with Nature.

We incorporate this into our program through our regular “Yana Nura” Bush Kinder Program, which is unique to our service and provides children and educators opportunities to connect with nature on a regular basis in a local community bushland.

The program is designed to promote physical wellbeing, spiritual and emotional wellbeing and explore connections to the environment. We feel that the children benefit from this focus, because it leads to more environmentally aware children who participate in sustainable living practices and develop creativity, independence and resilience, as well as an appreciation of the natural environment.

Yana Nura Bush Kinder Program - Information for Families

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...

“KU Castlecrag is truly a wonderful experience, with dedicated staff that focus on the individual child and their learning story.” – KU Castlecrag parent

“KU Castlecrag is nurturing and caring. The Bush Kinder program enhances the excellent program offered and enhances the children’s learning through the engagement of nature.” – KU Castlecrag 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.

KU Castlecrag is housed within the local community building, and our outdoor play space offers natural play areas that encourage exploration and a connection to nature. These represent the early foundations for a healthy, happy and nurtured child.

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.

As the preschool is situated next to Castlecrag Community Library, this allows children to visit and borrow books from their local library.

Other Features

Hat and Sunscreen
Transition to School
Public Transport
Play-based Learning
Parking
Outdoor Play
Storypark
Award
Education for Sustainability
photo of Ainslie Quinn

Ainslie Quinn

Director

Ainslie is a university qualified early childhood teacher with over 20 years’ experience working with children. She has been working at KU Castlecrag since 2022.

Ainslie is dedicated to supporting children’s emotional wellbeing, focusing on neuroscience and recent brain research to guide her teachings. She has a strong interest in nature-based pedagogy and is a strong leader within our Bush Preschool Program.

Our Team

Our team of early childhood educators have been part of KU Children’s Services collectively for over 45 years and are qualified, experienced, caring and highly motivated. All hold specialist qualifications in early childhood education and passionate about the care, education and wellbeing of children. 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 2023 at KU Castlecrag Preschool are:

Fee Amount
4 year old Start Strong Fee Relief fee $6.00
3 year old Start Strong Fee Relief fee $30.00
Start Strong Equity Fee Relief fee FREE
Unfunded fee $95.00

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.

The NSW Department of Education requires parents to sign the ‘Fee Relief Declaration’ and ‘Consent to use and disclosure of personal information’ forms at the time of enrolment (see KU’s Standard Terms for the Enrolment of Children, p.4). Your eligibility for Start Strong Funding, and the ‘Start Strong Fee Relief fees’ is conditional upon signing these forms.

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

From 2023, 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.

Enquire now
Add me to waiting list