Our Program and Approach
At KU Peter Pan La Perouse, 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.
Early childhood is a time when the foundations for thinking and understanding are laid down. All the interactions, experiences, activities, routines and events that occur in our preschool are designed to foster children’s learning and development.
Our curriculum is based on the Early Years Learning Framework. We plan our program with an emphasis on relationships, collaboration, creativity, problem solving and communication. Literacy and numeracy skills are fostered through meaningful play-based experiences in the creative and expressive arts, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths), physical activity and environmental studies.
Strong relationships are also an important part of our program. Children’s emotional and social wellbeing is developed through trusting relationships that build confidence, resilience, and independence.
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.
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 Peter Pan La Perouse, we focus on expressive and creative arts.
We incorporate this into our program through activities such as expressive media, drawing, painting, sculpture, collage, music and movements, and drama.
Our creative and expressive art programme is rich, diverse and relevant to our community. We focus on the inclusion of provocations for ephemeral art, drawing painting and mixed media with a strong emphasis on environmental sustainability and the indigenous concept of Country.
We feel that the children benefit from this focus because it enables children to express themselves in various ways and at their own developmental level, which is all play-based. This promotes self-confidence which they can take with them into their future lives, throughout childhood and adulthood.
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...
“I have been very, very happy with KU Peter Pan La Perouse and would recommend it to everyone." – KU Peter Pan La Perouse parent
“Fantastic and reassuring staff. I felt very comfortable with the whole enrollment and orientation process." – KU Peter Pan La Perouse 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.
The building was purpose built in 1970 in the style of the Sydney School Style of Architecture and as such has a unique interior and exterior. It is full of character which has been retained over the years. We have a large play-area for the children, with many well-established native trees. At present, we are working on the development of an Indigenous Story Pole and an Indigenous Bush Tucker garden, with the collaboration of the Indigenous community and the KU Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Programs Manager.
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 Peter Pan La Perouse team were awarded the 'Making the KU Difference through Innovation' Award in 2019, recognising the team's work in developing an innovative art program that highlights the creative arts at the preschool.
Our Reconciliation Action Plan
KU was proud to launch its inaugural Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) in 2016. At KU Peter Pan La Perouse, we began our journey to develop our centre’s RAP in 2018 and we are proud to launch it now. Please view it here.