Our Program and Approach

At KU Macquarie Fields, 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.

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.

We believe that early childhood programs need to provide opportunities for children to grow in a developmentally appropriate way. Inherent in this is the understanding that educators and families will create partnerships that will enable children to develop to their fullest potential.

At KU Macquarie Fields, we believe that early learning environments focus on and build upon the positive aspects of a child’s abilities and support the quality of relationships children develop with staff, parents and peers and community. We also encourage the full participation of each child in our play based learning activities to support, stimulate and structure learning, to bring about progress in the individual needs and abilities of each child.

At our preschool, children will be involved in a wide range of learning experiences including constructing and building, sand and water play, art, music, science, early literacy and numeracy, storytelling, puzzles and cooking.

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 Macquarie Fields, we focus on relationships with the local community, the understanding and respect of cultural diversity and inclusion support.

We incorporate this into our program through our great relationship with the local primary school, our links to the Department of Education and visits from local Aboriginal communities. We also have strong relationships with the early intervention service providers. We are privileged to have bi-cultural support workers in our centre and this helps to promote an understanding of each other’s cultures, language and heritage.

We feel that the children benefit from this focus, because it provides them with a sense of belonging in their local community and educates them about the wonderful uniqueness of their peers.

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...

"Thank you for making Hazel and her family feel very welcome to the lovely preschool community you have at KU Macquarie Fields. Hazel loves her days and wishes she could come along more days in the week! The team are doing a fabulous job with the children." - KU Macquarie Fields parent

"Thanks to each and every member of the KU Macquarie Fields Preschool team for the extraordinary effort and support for our child. Renee loves and looks forward to visit your care. She even asked me a couple of times as to why she is not going to the preschool every day, expressing her desire and keenness to visit 'right away'." - KU Macquarie Fields 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.

We have recently renovated our outdoor learning spaces and have a sensory garden, an outdoor play-space with a covered learning area, a literacy garden with an amphitheatre and a vegetable garden.

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 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.

In 2017, the team at KU Macquarie Fields Preschool was awarded the Making “the KU Difference” Award for Communities.

Our Reconciliation Action Plan

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

Designed Centre

Hat and Sunscreen

Transition to School

Public Transport

Play-based Learning

Parking

Outdoor Play

Award

Storypark

Jacklyn Staudinger

Director

Jacklyn is a university qualified early childhood teacher with over 32 years’ experience working with children and babies. She has been working at Macquarie Fields since 2009. Jacklyn is a Marte Mao practitioner, a Circle of Security Parent trainer, a caseworker and a keyworker and is currently completing her qualification in the Early Start Denver Model. Jacklyn is an advocate for children’s inclusion and believes it is important to celebrate individual differences and equality.

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 an experienced team, with three teachers and some members of staff having been at the centre for over 25 years. This means we have an in-depth knowledge of the local community and understand the needs of the families. Our community is ever-evolving and we are proud to have evolved with it.

The daily fees for 2019 at KU Macquarie Fields Preschool are:

Start Strong Fee: $3
Unfunded Fee: $36

Which fee will you pay?

Start Strong Fee

The NSW Government provides preschool funding, called Start Strong funding. This funding is to be directed towards children in the year before they are eligible to start school (four and five year olds) who are enrolled in a preschool program for 15 hours per week. Across KU Preschools, the ‘15 hours’ is met by enrolling in two x 7.5 hour days per week.

Start Strong funding is then passed on as a fee reduction for those 15 hours, with the Start Strong fee then applied to all four and five year old children enrolled for two days (15 hours) per week.

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

Unfunded Fee

The Unfunded Fee is charged when:

Children are three years old
Children are four or five years old who:
- Only attend one day per week (less than 15 hours); or
- Attend more than two days (15 hours) per week – you will pay the Start Strong Fee for the first two days, then the Unfunded Daily Fee for each day after that.

Is there a discounted 3-year-old fee?

You may have seen media reports that the NSW Government is extending Start Strong funding to three year olds in 2019. Whilst funding for three year olds will be less than for older children, it is still very welcome news.

The NSW Government will release that funding mid-2019. We look forward to being able to pass this funding on to families as discounted fees at that time. Until then, families of three year old children will be charged the Unfunded Fee.

Are you a Health Care Card holder?

If you hold a Health Care Card, you may be entitled to a further discount on your preschool fees. Please speak with the Preschool Director further about this.