Preschool Enrolment
To get started, please complete our waiting list form and feel free to contact us to arrange a tour of our preschools.
The Enrolment Process
Families identified for a potential placement in the following year, will be contacted around May/June and the enrolment form will be emailed to them.
Round one offers then go out to families in August who were previously contacted with the enrolment form. This process is identified as a ‘first in best dressed’, however, priority of access guidelines are also applied throughout this process.
When being offered a placement, the placement is offered to the Association – preferred preschools will be considered, however, can not be guaranteed. Once a placement at a preschool/classroom has been confirmed, changes are unable to be made so we encourage families to please choose carefully.
We pride ourselves on offering four high quality preschools, all in close proximity to one another, and guarantee the quality of the program will be consistently provided in any preschool within the Association.
Following round offers continue beyond August for any potential and remaining vacancies across the preschools.
Orientation Meetings are a compulsory meeting for all families, and these are held at the end of term 3 and/or the Sept/Oct school holiday period. This meeting is an opportunity to gather any missing information and provide any additional information as required. This meeting takes approximately 15-20 minutes.
‘Stay and Plays’ are offered in term 4, for an informal orientation session. This is scheduled for the whole class so parents can meet other parents, and likewise for the children, prior to commencing.
Fee Information
Fees are set by the Queanbeyan & District Preschool Association Management Committee in Term 4 for the following year. Fees are charged for your pattern of enrolment; however, fees are not charged for NSW Public Holidays or school holiday periods where the Preschools are closed. Family holidays and other absences are payable if your child is booked to attend on those days.
In 2025, the NSW Government are providing funding for Preschool families under the Start Strong Funding. Preschool families who elect for their funding to be allocated to their Preschool place with QDPA will be eligible for $4347 to be applied to their fees across the year. When you are offered a place with QDPA, the Start Strong NSW Government form will be provided to you to nominate and declare where you wish your funding to be allocated.
Our Fees for 2025 are:
- $38 per day (non-equity families)
- $13 per day (equity families – eligible concession holders with valid evidence including health care card, Indigenous children, 785 & 786 visa holder and/or children with identified early intervention needs).
If you elect the funding to be applied for your Preschool place at QDPA, your entire year of fees will be covered, except if your child is enrolled in a 3-day program, there will be a small out of pocket cost of approximately $80 per term.
A one-off non-refundable annual enrolment levy of $160 for the year is payable upon accepting your child’s enrolment, which covers Association Membership and excursion costs.
Our Preschool Fees and Levies Include:
- Provision of indoors/outdoors educational programs
- Transition to school programs
- Art programs
- PALs Program (as required)
- Gardening
- Protective behaviours programs
- Excursions out and about in our local and wider community
- Centre events and experiences within the service
- Wipes and sun cream
- Ongoing maintenance and upgrades of preschools
- Plus, additional educators in each classroom – operating with additional teaching staff in each classroom strongly supports inclusion within classrooms, particularly for children with additional needs and ensures our preschools operate well above recognised National Standard ratio requirements
QDPA OWNA Program
At QDPA, we are proud users of the app “OWNA”. This app is a ‘one-stop-shop’, allowing parents to sign children in and out, mark their children absent from preschool; as well as being our platform for documenting, planning, and programming.
Children’s stories, photos and videos are collated under their profile and families can access these daily.
Administratively we utilise OWNA as our communication platform – notices, updates and newsletters are all sent to you via the app. Fees (where applicable) will also be direct debited through OWNA.
On confirmation of enrolment, you will be emailed an invitation to OWNA – we strongly encourage you do this and engage with the app on a regular basis to ensure you don’t miss any important information come through.
