Sheridan Dudley Chief Executive Officer

The past year has been a challenging one for KU with a change of CEO and the need to put in place structures , systems and processes to implement the new Strategic Plan : Making “ the KU Difference ”. As a new CEO it has been important for me to visit as many of our centres and services as I can , to meet our staff and our parents and to see KU in action . I therefore made a commitment to spend at least half a day each week in centres and by December I had visited over 90 of them .

I am continually impressed by the wonderful education and care provided by our staff as well as the warm , welcoming and professional atmosphere of our centres and services . A high proportion of our staff has been with KU for many years and their loyalty , commitment and experience is the key strength of KU .

Our focus has been on ways to continually improve the quality of our early childhood education and care services while leveraging our size and scale to reduce our costs and increase affordability . While it is essential that our centres and services retain their community base , responsiveness to their community and their focus on individual children and families , it is equally important that our administration provides leadership and direction to KU and sees itself as a support and resource centre to KU ’ s core business : quality early childhood education and care . The change of name from “ Head Office ” to “ Central Office ” and the appointment of a Manager Educational Quality and a Manager Property , reflect that philosophy .

11000

10000

9000

8000

7000

6500

6000

5500

KU ’ s Reach

10 800

9 720

KU Staff

10 959

9 922

11 424 10 280

11 208 10 278

6 148

6 246

6 178

6 327

Business Development KU ’ s business development has focused on building on what we do well , rather than expanding into completely new areas . We are also careful to ensure that new businesses are viable and that KU ’ s high standards of quality are not compromised , even if this means we are sometimes unsuccessful in obtaining new business . The Business Development team worked on a number of tenders and expressions of interest as well as undertaking paid consultancies in the early childhood education and care sector .

KU was approached by 10 community based and operated preschools for information packages about transferring to KU . Six of these were interested in transferring to KU management , however after further investigation the transfer did not proceed for a variety of reasons . KU was also approached by 4 community based long day care services for information packages about a KU management option , with the Concord Child Care Centre and Bradfield Park Child Care Centre proceeding to transfer to KU early 2008 .

Human Resources A number of initiatives were implemented during the year to recruit , support and retain qualified , experienced staff .

An Employee Assistance Program was introduced in June as a commitment to employee welfare and provides a free and confidential service in relation to work , family and personal issues . A total of 48 employees accessed the service during the first 6 months of its operation .

A web-based recruitment system was introduced to allow more efficient management of the recruitment program within KU and to be more environmentally friendly with the reduction of paper-based applications being received . As well , the system allows for staff involved in the recruitment process to more quickly access the applications received and to reduce the time taken to cull , interview and appoint staff . This is especially important in a competitive recruitment market . During the reporting year 219 positions were advertised , with over 6000 applications received .

An Employee Opinion Survey of all staff was undertaken to seek their comment on the issues that affect them in the workplace . It was very pleasing that a response rate of over 62 % was received . Overall , the survey was positive with 74 % of staff stating that they felt valued and 82 % would recommend KU as an employer .

Staff turnover during 2007 was 22 % which

6 KU ’ s 112 th Annual Report 2007