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 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.

Other Features

Designed Centre

Extended Hours

Hat and Sunscreen

Transition to School

Public Transport

Play-based Learning

Parking

Outdoor Play

Award

Storypark

Maryjane Minshull

Director

Maryjane is a university qualified early childhood teacher with over 20 years’ experience working with children and babies. She has been working at KU Peter Pan La Perouse since 2003. Maryjane has a passion for environmental sustainability and demonstrates this in her everyday teaching of the children. She has completed speech and drama AMEB Grade 6 education, and has a love for children’s poetry and literature.

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 highly experienced members of staff, with some staff members having been at the centre for over eight years.

Children who are three years old, will pay the Unfunded Daily Fee: $66.50 per day

Children in the year before they are eligible to start school

…who attend one day per week (less than 15 hours per week) will pay the Unfunded Daily Fee: $66.50 per day
…who attend two days per week (15 hours per week) will pay the Start Strong Fee: $19.00 per day
…who attend more than two days per week (more than 15 hours per week), will pay the Start Strong Fee ($19.00) for the first two days, then the Unfunded Daily Fee ($66.50) for each day after that

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 about this if you think you may be eligible.

Why are preschool fees so complex?

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. At KU Peter Pan La Perouse, the ‘15 hours’ is met by enrolling in two x 7.5 hour days per week.

Start Strong funding means we can provide a fee reduction for those 15 hours; this is the Start Strong Fee.

Where do your fees go?

In an increasingly competitive marketplace, KU has remained very proudly a not for profit provider. Our fees are designed to cover the operational costs of delivering the unique KU learning experience, and to ensure KU can continue delivering those experiences for many years to come.

Any surplus we may make is reinvested into our local staff, our high quality services, and ensuring our long term sustainability. KU does not distribute our profits to shareholders, or send them offshore.

KU Peter Pan La Perouse Preschool