Childcare and Preschool for Wahroonga Families

What matters

Why Wahroonga families choose Lead

Wahroonga parents searching for childcare Wahroonga-side often find local places tight on the days they want. Lead offers a short cross-country drive and a centre that runs a little differently: a Reggio Emilia inspired program, a real preschool year inside full-day care, one inclusive fee and an Exceeding quality rating.

For many Wahroonga families the first question is simply whether there is a place. Because our centre sits outside Wahroonga itself, the days you need may be easier to find here than closer to home, although availability always varies by room.

The Reggio Emilia influence shows in the rooms. Natural materials, wooden resources and projects that follow children's questions replace worksheets and rows of plastic toys. Educators see children as capable researchers, and the room itself is set up to invite exploration.

The preschool year runs inside long day care, which means children follow our School Readiness Program while parents keep the long hours their work needs, holidays included.

Wahroonga is home to large employers such as the Sydney Adventist Hospital, and many local parents work shifts or start early. Opening at 7:00am, and staying open until 6:00pm, gives room to manage a hospital roster or an early meeting.

Just as important is how children are known. Educators keep observations and learning journals for each child, and formal progress summaries and parent meetings help you see how your child is growing over the year.

Children spend a good part of every day outdoors, in a shaded playground with climbing equipment and room to dig, run and build, which balances the quieter project work inside.

Communication is steady and practical. Our parent app carries daily updates, photos and learning stories, and educators are happy to talk at drop-off and pick-up about how the day went.

Because the drive is short, the centre also works well when one parent drops off and the other collects, each on their own schedule.

All of our educators keep their first aid, CPR, asthma and anaphylaxis certificates up to date, and university-trained early childhood teachers lead the learning program.

Our Exceeding rating, awarded by the NSW regulator in May 2026, is listed on the national StartingBlocks register, where you can read the result for each quality area.

Clock and kerb

Drive time and parking

With clear roads, Wahroonga station to our door is roughly an 8 minute drive. On school-term mornings allow closer to 15 minutes, because several big schools line the Pacific Highway through Wahroonga and Pymble, and their 40 km/h zones slow traffic at drop-off time. Street parking sits close to our entrance on Killeaton Street.

The clear-road figure comes from OpenStreetMap routing, measured from Wahroonga station. Homes on the northern side of Wahroonga add a few minutes, while the southern side, closer to Warrawee, is a little quicker.

A 7:30am arrival usually avoids the school traffic entirely, and gives time for an unhurried goodbye.

During school holidays the highway is noticeably quieter, and the trip is often close to the clear-road time.

Afternoons are generally easier, with more of the traffic heading south as you head north again.

Pick-up can be any time up to our 6:00pm close with no late charge, which suits parents whose shifts or meetings run over.

If a grandparent or friend helps with pick-up, add them as an authorised person with us in advance, and the digital sign-out keeps a clear record of who collected your child.

The walk from the kerb to our door is flat, so a sleeping baby in a pram or a toddler on a scooter is no trouble.

Costs

What is included in your fee

Our $170 day, before any subsidy, and it covers every meal from an early breakfast to a late-afternoon snack, plus nappies, wipes and sunscreen, and every session in our program, from yoga and sport to cooking, languages and STEM. Wahroonga families pack only a few personal things each day.

Those are a drink bottle and hat with your child's name on them, bedding for rest, a couple of spare outfits, and formula or a comfort item if your child needs them.

Fees are charged fortnightly in advance, with the gap after the subsidy paid electronically, so the cost stays predictable across the year.

We cater for allergies with individual plans, and we are a Nut Aware service, so there is no packing around restrictions either.

When comparing centres, add up what you would spend each week on nappies, food and paid classes elsewhere, then compare the totals. Our page on everything the fee covers has a quick calculator for exactly that.

Extracurricular sessions are shaped for each age group, so a two year old's yoga is mostly animal poses and songs, while preschoolers follow simple sequences and breathing games.

Meals are planned to meet children's nutritional needs, with menus that cater for cultural and dietary requirements recorded for each child.

Photos, updates and learning stories arrive through our parent app, which is included too.

Looking ahead

Nearby schools our children move on to

From our Preschool room, children go on to kindergarten, the NSW name for the first year of school, at whatever school their family chooses. For Wahroonga and Warrawee families, public primary schools close to home include Wahroonga Public School and Warrawee Public School, with Waitara Public School a little to the north.

Public school enrolment depends on your address, and the NSW Department of Education's School Finder shows the local school for any street.

If you have an older child already at a local primary school, our before and after school care and holiday programs for 6 to 12 year olds can keep siblings on one timetable.

Children often move on with friends they have made here, which can make the first day of school a little less daunting, even when they head to different schools.

Wahroonga also has well-known independent schools, and if you are considering one, it is sensible to ask about enrolment timelines early.

Wherever your child goes, the preschool year with us focuses on the skills that make kindergarten easier: listening in a group, early reading and number sense, looking after belongings and asking for help.

Kindergarten orientation usually happens in the last term before school, and we talk children through what to expect so the visits feel exciting rather than daunting.

In the final term, children practise school routines, and we are happy to share observations with you about your child's readiness to pass on to their new teacher.

Families with a winter birthday often wonder whether to start school at four or wait a year. There is no single right answer, and we are glad to share what we notice in the room to help you decide.

A child can start kindergarten in NSW if they are five by 31 July of that year, and school becomes compulsory at six.