Pre school- confusion?

[fmay]

Aplogies if this has been discussed recently on the forum, I could not find a thread... I am totally confused about pre school.

I thought it started with mornings or afternoons when the child was about 3, and that you registered just the summer before they would go. Seems I have this totally wrong?

People have told me that they go from 2 in this area? Are the local 'pre schools' just the same as private nurseries...ie with very long waiting lists (so need to register long before) and horrendously expensive fees? What I am trying to say is, is 'pre school' just another word for/ the same as 'nursery', therefore optional (and expensive!!).

My little boy is 16months and I'm worried now because I thought I didn't have to think about school things for a while. I would like to have him at his nursery a day or two a week when my second is born but I was just expecting to have to pay for the local private nursery that he goes to now?

Any advice much appreciated!

[Fuschia]

The government pays for 15 p/w free nursery education for every child from the term after their third birthday. This is usually in the form of 5 x 3h sessions (am or pm) if in the nusery class of a school... private nurseries may offer more flexibility, I believe the 15h must be spread across a minimum of 3 days though. Nurseries who wish to gain the govt funding are supposed to offer this 15h totally free (no top up fees) though it looks many flout the law (and the tories seem minded to allow top up fees)

Nurseries that offer the 15h locally include Buds, Puddleduck... and many schools have nursery classes. You should probably apply about a year in advance. I think for Sept 2011 school nusery admissions, places may be allocated from Spring 2011, for eg. Some nurseries may charge a fee to go on the waiting list.

[Fuschia]

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Parents/Preschooldevelopmentandlearning/NurseriesPlaygroupsReceptionClasses/DG_10016103

Getting a place in a school nursery has no bearing at all on reception admissions. You can be in nursery but not get a reception place, and you can get in to reception without having been in nursery.

[fmay]

thanks Fuschia, that makes it much clearer. So if your child goes for half days before 3 you would pay full fees?

[Fuschia]

fmay Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> thanks Fuschia, that makes it much clearer. So if

> your child goes for half days before 3 you would

> pay full fees?

Yes

[GinaG3]

This has been confusing me too. My daughter is 18 months old. How do I find out about catchment areas? I'm dreading this process, no matter how much I read I just get confused..

[duchessofdulwich]

if you send your child to a private pre school will the government still pay for the 15 hrs p/w?

[edanna]

Some nurseries don't take the gov money, I think. If you have a look at the ofsted report it often says that they have x number of funded 3 and 4 year olds. Contact the nursery to be sure. And remember that pre schools are generally only in school term times.

[njc97]

DoD - it's v complicated. Some private pre-schools will claim the govt money, in which case you'll pay reduced fees. But some don't, not least because it's not clear what sort of top-up fees the nursery can then charge if they are providing a full-time service. My son's nursery just knocks the govt money off the total fees (i.e. if total fees are ?1000 /month and the govt money is ?300 /month, then they charge the remaining ?700)

BUT other nurseries (local authorities?) think they should do it based on hours, so if the fees are currently ?1000 for 40 hours /week, and the government pay ?300 for 15 hours/week then the nursery can only charge a top up for the remaining 25 hours of ?1000 * 25 / 40 = ?625, i.e. the nursery make a ?75 loss, which they can't afford so they don't take the govt money.