KU Craigieburn Children's Centre

24-36 Cleveland Drive
CRAIGIEBURN VIC 3064
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  • Monday to Friday 7:00am - 6:00pm
Babies Toddlers Preschoolers Vic Free Kinder Program

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.

Our holistic educational program is play-based, following the National Quality Framework and Victorian Early Years Learning Framework and focuses on the needs and interests of children.

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 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 interest.

At KU Craigieburn our special interest is incorporating home languages into our program and embedding the cultural diversities into our everyday curriculum.

We feel that the children benefit from this interest because their sense of belonging is enhanced and we are representing the true culture of our context. At our centre, we have educators from various backgrounds and languages. We strive to develop children’s bilingualism and cultural identity.


Our Quality


Our centre has been independently assessed by the Department of Education and Training Victoria 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 Craigieburn is the most amazing centre. Every staff member goes above and beyond. It is run so well. I would absolutely recommend to everyone looking to send their child here." - KU Craigieburn parent

“Both of my children have really enjoyed KU and settled in well. I think that is in large part to how welcoming the educators are and it has been appreciated.” - KU Craigieburn 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 centre is located in a beautiful area next to Mount Ridley College. We have bright rooms and a large, open outdoor area, providing a wonderful environment for children of all ages to interact and learn.

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 Awards

KU Craigieburn was named as a finalist in the prestigious 2023 HESTA Early Childhood Education & Care Awards, in the Outstanding Service category. The service was recognised for its dedication to embracing cultural diversity, understanding and bilingualism, and helping to foster a sense of belonging for children.

In addition, KU Craigieburn Director Pardeep Samra was awarded the 2023 'Making the KU Difference for Families' Award. Pardeep was recognised for leading the service's philosophy of creating inclusive and respectful environments, enabling children and families to feel welcomed and safe.

Also in 2023, KU Craigieburn Early Childhood Teacher Nuriye Bekkaya was awarded the 'Making the KU Difference for Children' Award. This award recognises her commitment to all children, looking at each child for their unique abilities and strengths, and working with families to expose them to learning opportunities to assist them in reaching their full potential.

The Annual KU Difference Awards were introduced a number of years ago, as a way of acknowledging KU staff who have made a significant contribution to KU. These annual awards are open to all KU staff, at any level (either individual staff or a team), who have worked above and beyond their normal duties.


Our Reconciliation Action Plan

KU was proud to launch its inaugural Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) in 2016. At KU Craigieburn, we began our journey to develop our centre’s RAP in 2018 and we are proud to present it here.


Other Features

Child Care Subsidy
Cooked Meal
Designed Centre
Extended Hours
Hat and Sunscreen
Transition to School
Play-based Learning
Parking
Outdoor Play
Nappies
Lunch
Storypark
Award
Education for Sustainability

photo of Pardeep Samra

Pardeep Samra

Director

Pardeep is a university qualified early childhood teacher with over 10 years’ experience working with children and babies. She has been working at KU Craigieburn Children’s Centre since 2018.

She strongly believes that building secure relationships with children and families supports children’s learning and wellbeing. As such, at KU Craigieburn, our vision is to create an inclusive and respectful environment where each child and family feels welcomed and safe.

Pardeep was awarded the 2023 'Making the KU Difference for Families' Award, in recognition of her leadership of KU Craigieburn's philosophy of creating inclusive and respectful environments, enabling children and families to feel welcomed and safe.

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.

We have long attending educators who have been here since our first day of opening and a diverse team from multiple backgrounds including Vietnamese, Indian, Sri Lankan, Indonesian, Samoan, Chinese, Macedonian, Italian, and Irish.

The daily fees for 2024 at KU Craigieburn Children's Centre are:

  • Infants: $152
  • Toddlers: $152
  • Preschoolers: $152

This is the full daily fee. If you are entitled to 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. In the past, KU has taken great pride in offering the very best services with minimal increased fees wherever possible. However this year is different, escalating operating costs have meant that in 2024 we are forced to increase fees at a higher rate than we would normally.

The fee increase will ensure we can continue to improve the quality of our services and invest in our highly skilled teachers and educators. We recognise our staff are the heart of KU as they build strong nurturing relationships with children and families whilst continuing to provide a high-quality learning program. These are vital factors that contribute to what is most important to us all – the best outcomes for children.

Overall, KU services hold the highest ratings across the National Quality Standard, with 82% of our services either Excellent or Exceeding, compared to the sector benchmark of 45%.

KU does not distribute our profits to shareholders or send them offshore.

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 www.dese.gov.au.

Victorian Kindergarten Funding

Our Victorian long day care services offer an integrated kindergarten program funded by the Victorian Department of Education and Training. If you have a child aged 3 or 4 years, you may elect to use your kindergarten funding at our service. Further information can be provided by the Service Director.

From 2024, the Victorian Government will be providing Free Kinder funding, based on $2,050 for a 15-hour program per eligible 3 and 4 year old child attending a kindergarten 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 Free Kinder payment will not impact CCS entitlements.

Free Kinder funding is for children who are 3 and 4 years old in the two years before attending formal schooling and can only be accessed in one service. This could either be in a sessional kindergarten or long day care service. If you have a child who may be eligible, please discuss this with your Service Director.

The Victorian Department of Education and Training requires parents to sign the declaration form at the time of enrolment. Your eligibility for Free Kinder funding is conditional upon signing this form.