Our Program and Approach

At KU Westmead, we aim to provide a safe and responsive learning environment, where children are immersed and engaged in experiences and social interactions with educators and peers.

Our centre program is based upon the principles of the national Early Years Learning Framework, Belonging, Being, Becoming, which guides our educational program and practices.

Our play-based curriculum fosters self-identity, choice, participation and collaboration with others. We believe every child is unique, with their own personality, learning style, family background and pattern and timing of growth. Our program, environment and staff interactions with the children aim to be responsive to these individual differences.

Our natural environment offers children a nurturing space where each child is immersed in a rich tapestry of educationally interactive experiences.

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, visual arts, music and movement, physical play, block building, sand/mud and water play, science experiments, early numeracy activities such as counting and measurement, and early literacy activities such as reading, drawing and writing.

At KU Westmead, we are proud of our reputation within our local and diverse community. For over 40 years we have provided a high quality service that concentrates on individual children in a family-focussed and supportive way.

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 Specialisation

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

At KU Westmead, our specialisation is learning through the environment and visual arts.

We incorporate this into our program through a variety of activities, including the use of natural materials as tools for learning, our sustainability practices and providing opportunities for children to engage with living creatures through our frog pond and chicken coop. Our indoor/outdoor program offers extended periods of uninterrupted time for children to explore the natural setting and engage with nature through climbing trees, mud, sand and water play, and interacting with our animals including our resident blue tongue lizard.

Our Atelier (art studio) is an inspirational area where children are immersed in a variety of rich art experiences. Alongside colour exploration, children are taught different techniques and are encouraged to use a variety of media as they create.

We feel that the children benefit from this specialisation, because it develops and enhances their creative skills and connects them with their natural environment, fostering a sense of wellbeing.

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...

“Fantastic and reassuring staff. I felt very comfortable with the whole enrolment and orientation process." - KU Westmead parent

"I am very happy with the way KU staff are teaching the children." - KU Westmead 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 includes a frog pond where children can experience watching tadpoles develop into frogs. We also have hens, so the children can gather eggs and learn more about looking after domestic animals.

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, climbing trees, 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 Reconciliation Action Plan

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

Hat and Sunscreen

Transition to School

Public Transport

Play-based Learning

Outdoor Play

Award

Storypark

Mariana Rondon

Director

Mariana is a university qualified early childhood teacher with over 13 years’ experience working with children and babies. She has been working at KU Westmead since 2012.

Marina has a wealth of experience working with children and families with culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. She is fortunate to have shared different languages, customs, behaviours, beliefs and values with families in the centres she has worked at before joining KU Westmead.

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.

It is our belief and passion to promote sustainability within our educational program, throughout our service, as well as the broader community. As educators, we have an active and significant role to play; ensuring children experience connections with the natural environment in meaningful ways. As educators, we reflect on our practices with an aim towards continuous improvement and undertake professional development to ensure our currency of knowledge.

The daily fees for 2021 at KU Westmead Preschool are:

Fee	Amount
Attending two days (3 or 4 year olds)	FREE
Unfunded fee (single or additional days)	$74.00

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.

'Free Fees': Start Strong (3 year olds and 4 year olds) and additional COVID funding

To be eligible for Start Strong (and therefore the COVID-19 funding for ‘free fees’ in 2021), children must turn 3 or 4 by 31 July in that preschool year, and be 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.

For 2021, the NSW government has provided additional funding for NSW preschools, to lessen the financial burden on families as a result of COVID-19. This funding means preschool will be free for those two days (15 hours), for children eligible for Start Strong funding.

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.

The Unfunded Fee is charged when:

Children who:
- Only attend one day per week (less than 15 hours); or
- Attend more than two days (15 hours) per week - in 2021, the first two days will be free, then you will be charged the Unfunded Daily Fee for each day after that.