Making the KU Difference
For communities
Paula Broughton
Administrator, KU Koala Preschool
In 2012, many areas throughout Australia were affected
by extreme weather conditions. In March of this year,
Wagga Wagga experienced severe rain and flooding in
many parts of the city and surrounding areas. This had
not occurred in Wagga Wagga for many years and was
unexpected. KU Koala Preschool was caught up in the
subsequent flood emergency as it was then operating
from its old site, in the heart of the Wagga Wagga city
centre. The preschool is well known and has supported
many families within the community over its many years
of operating.
Whilst many families were dealing with their own
potential flood concerns, the KU Wagga Preschool staff
all worked additional hours to ensure the centre was
prepared for any flooding.
In addition to the hard work undertaken by the staff,
Paula, with the help of her husband, continued to work
on into the late evening for many hours and through
this extra work, Paula helped to ensure the furniture was
raised off the floor and the equipment was kept safe.
This included Paula and her husband taking trailer loads
of equipment and the centre’s computers to a safe
location offsite to keep them from being damaged.
When the flood emergency warning was lifted and the
waters had receded, Paula and her husband ensured
all the equipment was returned and again assisted in
preparing the service to be ready to open for children
and families.
8
KU Children’s Services
KU Professional Services:
Supporting our community
In 2012 KU Professional Services provided a
broad range of training and consultancy services
for early childhood education providers. This
included support to other early childhood
education providers in the form of paid access
to resources, consultancy services and workshops
and publications. There was an increase in the
number of KU professional learning programs
offered to non-KU early childhood education
professionals, including expansion into other
States and Territories.
Beyond KU
KU delivers support to early childhood education and
care services right across Australia, through a variety of
Commonwealth and NSW Government funded
programs designed to promote the inclusion of children
with ongoing high support needs, those from culturally
and linguistically diverse backgrounds, and also
Indigenous children.
As the National Inclusion Support Subsidy (ISS)
Provider, KU (in partnership with Include Me) distributed
approx $50m in funding nationally, assessed 11,690
applications and paid 1,520 claims.
Within our seven Inclusion Support Agency (ISA)
regions, KU assisted more than 2,400 services to include
more than 30,000 children with additional needs.
KU also supported the inclusion of 318 children with
additional needs in 70 preschools in the Northern
Sydney Region through the Supporting Children with
Additional Needs (SCAN) program.