KU Cheltenham Memorial Preschool

Cnr The Promenade & Beecroft Road
CHELTENHAM NSW 2119
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  • Monday to Friday 8:00am - 3:30pm
Preschoolers NSW Fee Relief – Preschool

Our Program and Approach

At KU Cheltenham, we aim to provide a happy, stimulating, caring and safe environment, where children feel a strong sense of belonging. We view each child as unique with an individual personality, learning style and family background.

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.

Our program is based on the Early Years Learning Framework and provides the central medium for learning. 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 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 Special Interest

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

At KU Cheltenham, our special interest is our outdoor program. Our preschool is set in a large established woodland garden. With a wealth of space available to the children, our experienced team of educators have created stimulating and engaging play spaces that cater for all children’s interests.

Experiences on offer include building with construction (natural and man-made materials), the opportunity to engage in a wide variety of art and craft experiences, play in the mud kitchen, sandpit and dramatic play areas, music and dancing, as well as the chance to climb and play ball games in our large open grass area.

We feel that the children benefit from this special interest because it promotes a sense of wellbeing and fosters self-confidence.


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...

“The atmosphere at the preschool is very warm and caring. I love the large natural environment and that all the teachers know my children and our family. Preschool at KU Cheltenham has been a very valuable experience for all four of my children.” – KU Cheltenham parent
“The staff at KU Cheltenham are wonderful, they are fantastic with the children and they make the preschool experience very enjoyable for my children.” – KU Cheltenham 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.

Our preschool holds a special place in the local community, and has been part of the community since the 1950s. KU Cheltenham became affiliated with KU in 1944, the same year in which Mrs R. Vicars offered to donate the land for the preschool as a War Memorial. It is through the efforts of local community members that funds were raised and the building was built and opened in 1958.

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.


Our Awards

The KU Cheltenham Team under the leadership of Michelle Healey were awarded a 'Making the KU Difference by Representing KU' Award in 2022 for representing KU through compassion, commitment to early childhood outcomes and presence in the community.

In 2017, Mary Mirhaghani from KU Cheltenham was awarded the 'Making the KU Difference for Communities' Award and in 2016, Fiona Eadie was awarded the 'Making the KU Difference for Families' Award.

The Making the KU Difference Awards were introduced a number of years ago, as a way of acknowledging KU staff who have worked above and beyond their normal duties to make a significant contribution to KU.


Our Reconciliation Action Plan

KU was proud to launch its inaugural Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) in 2016. At KU Cheltenham, we began our journey to develop our centre’s RAP in 2019 and we are proud to launch it here.


Other Features

Hat and Sunscreen
Transition to School
Public Transport
Play-based Learning
Outdoor Play
Storypark
Award

photo of Michelle Healey

Michelle Healey

Director

Michelle holds a Bachelor of Education, and has over 30 years’ experience working with children and babies. She has been working at KU Cheltenham since 2012. Michelle is particularly focused on ensuring that all families feel welcome at KU Cheltenham, and are able to share in their child’s learning journey. Apart from play in the natural environment, Michelle is interested in the creative arts and music, which feature strongly in the preschool program.

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

Our long-standing team share a commitment to ensuring all families feel welcome and have a strong sense of belonging in our centre community. We respect the values, backgrounds and differences of each family, and place a high priority on parents and educators working in partnership to achieve the best educational outcomes for children. We encourage children to become independent thinkers, with the confidence and capacity to resource their own learning, and make their own decisions. We look forward to the privilege of working with you and your child on this important stage of their educational journey.

The daily fees for 2024 at KU Cheltenham Memorial Preschool are:

Fee Amount
4 year old Start Strong Fee Relief fee $1.00
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.