KU Annual Report KU Annual Report 2019 | Page 19

WHERE IT MATTERS MOST KU educators are committed to providing an inclusive environment for children and families. In addition, over the coming years, the KU Marcia Burgess Foundation will prioritise fundraising initiatives and programs designed to provide greater access for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, families and young people in early childhood education settings. Our focus is on creating and strengthening collaborative partnerships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and ensuring those partnerships guide our work in this area; a priority focus at the new KU Ashmont Preschool and Family Centre on track to open its doors in 2020. Another substantial component of KU’s social impact programs has been the inclusion support services provided by KU under the Australian Government’s Inclusion Support Program. KU supports the inclusion of children with additional needs in early childhood services by providing advice and support, access to funded support, and specialist equipment to services, through Inclusion Agencies in NSW, ACT, QLD and VIC. In 2019, KU Inclusion Agency staff supported 7,361 early childhood education services across these states. KU’s commitment to inclusion does not end there. In 2019, over 700 children with additional needs were included in KU services, assisted by KU’s Education Support Team, and over 6,200 hours of NDISfunded services were delivered across KU centres, including almost 3,500 hours of paediatric speech pathology services. In addition, 1,653 children from refugee and new migrant families were welcomed to Australia through childcare in KU’s Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP) services, and 716 families increased their child’s engagement with the community through KU’s Family Programs. Social impact has long been at the core of what we do at KU, and we will continue to strengthen our commitment to supporting the most vulnerable children to participate in early childhood education as we enter our 125 th year in 2020. KU 20 19 13