nursery/pre-school queries

[petra_29]

Hello - really hoping someone can help me understand local state nurseries. I'm a way off but would like to get my head around how it all works. I'm assuming there's less of a catchment issue than at the same school for a reception start? But is there any guarantee that your child would have a place at that school if you sent them to the nursery. If, for instance, I sent my son to Heber nursery, might I then find he didn't get a place there for reception onwards and would have to go to whichever school he did get a place at.

Is my understand pretty much correct or am I totally misunderstanding the system.

Thanks

[Renata Hamvas]

Hi Petra,

yes, if your child has a place at a school nursery, it has no impact on whether or not they secure a place at the school at reception. Many children go to a different primary to the one they attended for nursery. If you have a child already in a primary, in some cases they will have priority for the school's nursery (this depends on the individual school).

Renata

[petra_29]

Thank you. Sounds like I'm not too far off with my understanding.

So, next question...are there educational benefits to sending your preschooler to a nursery attached to a primary school rather than sending them to (or keeping them in) a private nursery?

[sunbob]

In terms of educational benefits, each nursery is different in their approach and you should definitely visit and do individual enquiries into each that your interested in. The big difference between state and private nurseries is the hours. State school nurseries generally do either 5 three hour morning slots a week, 5 three hour afternoon slots a week or 2.5 school hour days a week. A private nursery will generally be open approx 8am-6pm Mon-Fri and you can pay for the days you want (some allow you to pay for half days eg 8-1 or 1-6). The other difference is ages of children, school nursery is offered for 1 year (sometimes 1 year and an extra term or two) before your child goes to school. Private nurseries usually take babies (eg from 6 months) upwards to school age.

[Mariamadeit]

My children both attend/ed blossoms Montessori for pre school, the days are 9-4 term time only and it is encouraged to take two consecutive days at least. My daughter will increase to 3 days in sept in preparation for school, but they were fantastic with my son and suited us really well both children had/have a fab time there and they go, in my opinion, above and beyond what is expected for preschool, but it is all done in a very child centred way.