Extending on the hugely successful launch
of KU’s Understanding Quality booklet for
families in 2012, we went on to distribute
more than 80,000 free hard copies across
the country, and developed and launched
the first Quality Childcare app to assist
families in identifying and choosing quality
childcare. This was closely followed by a
second app designed specifically for KU
Annual Conference participants.
Reflecting our unwavering commitment
to continuous improvement in our pursuit
of quality, we expanded our Professional
Learning Program to include the formation
of Professional Learning Communities to
enable in-depth and targeted learning and
thought leadership to occur. An increasing
number of external educators participated
in KU’s Professional Learning Program which
included our very successful KU Annual
Conference. The Conference featured Dr
Lillian Katz, a well known international
keynote speaker and attracted more than
850 registrants.
Of course the year had its challenges. Sadly
we experienced the unexpected withdrawal
of two of our corporate clients as they made
the decision to cease to provide employer
sponsored child care for their employees.
As a result we managed the closure of
both Billabond and Willows long day care
services. This was a process managed with
great sensitivity as we assisted families
find new child care places for their children
and re-deployed as many staff as possible
within KU. After forty years of operation, we
also managed the closure of KU Burnside
Preschool following a decision by our landlord
not to renew the lease, choosing instead
to operate a new preschool service on that
site. Due to lack of demand and changing
demographics, KU made the decision to close
KU Glenhaven Mobile Preschool.
In 2013 we also continued to meet the
challenge of several landlords seeking a
significant increase in rent or full commercial
rental returns on their assets. In this context,
we successfully re-tendered for two of our
services in one area and with the support of
families, we led a very successful campaign
in another area to stop the tendering out
of the leases that had expired on seven
preschools where we have been operating
for between forty and sixty years.
Towards the end of the year, the NSW
Government announced the new community
preschool funding model to come into effect
in January 2014 and we continue to watch
and assess the impact this has on the NSW
preschool sector.
Nevertheless we regard stewardship of
being able to offer quality early childhood
and education well into the future as one
of our highest priorities. In this regard,
we continued to focus on ensuring a
sustainable future for KU and our financial
result for 2013 was a total reported surplus
of $2,868,786.
Stuart Washington
Chairman, Board of Directors
Christine Legg
Chief Executive Officer
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