Nursery in a very deprived area

[nappyaddict]

Is it going to be a massive disadvantage if I send DS there? Has anyone got personal experience of it?

[dilemma456]

Message withdrawn

[Peabody]

My son's nursery is in a deprived area, but it's much better than the ones in the posher areas around. It's set up as a charity so any money made goes back into stuff for the kids. It also gets council funding for some of its services because of the area its in.

So I totally agree with dilemma - visit it with an open mind.

[nickytwotimes]

One of my friends has moved from our very mixed area to a very deprived area and is finding the nursery and primary school education to be superior due to the extra funding and the leadership there. Worth a look certainly.

[PrettyCandles]

Ds1 and dd went to a nursery which served a huge range of people. Most were non-white and from deprived areas. A lot of single teenage mums. Most of the children spoke English as a first language, but very few spoke London English (they were Caribean, Asian, etc). There were children with health problems, behaviour problems and social problems. There were also some middle-class families, not necessarily white.

The building was a little decrepit, there wasn't much budget for it so almost all the work was done by the owner/principal's family and friends.

By the time the children left for school, they could all recognise and write most letters and figures, they knew all their shapes and colours, they spoke confidentlly and clearly and listened well, and a significant number could read.

My dcs never learned any offensive behaviour or language, and, although I never clicked with any of the mums or had any playdates with the children, my dcs were very happy at the nursery.

The staff were utterly fantastic. Dedicated and proud of their work. Turnover of staff was very low - in the 3 years that my dcs attended only 2 changed, and the others had all been there for several years.

You need to visit a few times and watch the children and staff interacting.

[zebramummy]

my ds is currently attending one - our set-up is vv similar to prettycandles except that we have experienced a few glitches - the playdate situation is really a shame for my ds as a lot of his friends of pre-school age whom we have known since birth have now left london and it is proving difficult to recruit replacements.

we live v close to the school (as it is basically in the posh bit of an otherwise deprived part of london) so all these parents know this and prob know how much my house is worth which makes me feel a bit uneasy as some of them love in homeless accomodation apparently. ds has been commenting that 'mummy is too proud' a lot - i question where he has picked that phrase up from.

not much chit chat outside the school gate - can be awkward at times esp when the mums who know each other from the same housing estate wind their way around you to reform in a clique - you end up feeling like a concrete pillar.

ds did not have a kiddie birthday party this year - pre-nursery, the burning issue would have been how to restrict numbers without offending anyone - need i explain???

although the staff are great and the turnover is lower than low really, they have different expectations of me wrt forking out for their merchandise (often tat) baking cakes and taking on PTA responsibilities. the harset has been recently when ds was punched onto the concreted ground by a possible ADHD child. they were talking to me in a way which suggested that i should pity or even show concern for the little *** when it was my ds who was shaken and hurt -

[Botbot]

I live in a 'deprived area' (despite not being particularly deprived - bloody London house prices) and our community nursery (attached to a children's centre) is lovely. There is a complete mix of people, including ones from posher surrounding areas who are attracted by its good ofsted report and general niceness. I've made lots of good friends among the mums and playdates are plentiful. I wouldn't worry at all.

[mrz]

Often nurseries in "deprived" areas are extremely well resources and staffed compared to more affluent areas.

[nappyaddict]

going a bit off topic now but zebramummy they were probably trying to make you feel better by telling you that it wasn't done in a malicious way but over excitement instead. Somehow trying to soften the blow by telling you that no one actually had the thoughts "I want to hurt your little boy and I am going to" which is never a nice thing to have to think about.

[misshardbroom]

We have a real mix in ours, a lot of EAL children, lots (at least 60%) of children coming from council estates, a lot of unemployed parents at the moment.

I absolutely love it, there's no snobbery or competitiveness, the staff are dedicated, and we get a lot of support from Sure Start both in terms of money but also advice about developing services.

I like the fact that my children have made friends based on who they like, rather than just within an insular little set, and I think it's helped me rein in some of my more PFB tendencies. And I love the fact that you can go into a session and hear three or four languages being spoken.

Definitely choose your nursery based on your honest impressions, but certainly don't let the area put you off.

[nappyaddict]

what's EAL?

[mrz]

English as an Additional Language