Rejected from Scottish nursery - please help!

You can firmly blame the Scottish Government for this. It's happening in nurseries all over the country since they widened the age range for deferring to p1 entry. So lots more kids staying at nursery an extra year, but no more nursery places provided. Kids turning 3 therefore have no place while kids who are nearly 5 or 5 remain in nursery an extra year. The whole thing is a mess. If your daughter is just turning 3, you might not get a space this year, but you should next year when she is 4. If she is already 4 and you've just moved to area, you are likely stuck without a place till school.

No. If the catchment school can’t take the number of kids projected in a new build estate, they won’t get permission to build. Or, they will re-zone the catchment area so kids go to a school that has places. I’ve worked on housing projects which has homes sitting empty for 6 months because they aren’t allowed to release them for sale if there are no places in the catchment area school. Or, the school is expanded with temporary classrooms.

You’ve misunderstood OP, they do not have to provide a place, but IF you can find one then you can use the funding.

There are no catchment areas for local authority nurseries in Scotland. You can apply to any nursery. If they are full then they’re full. There’s nothing that can be done about that from your end. They have offered a place but not one that is terribly convenient. This will have no impact on primary school. You have a catchment school. You are guaranteed a place for P1 in this catchment school. You can apply out of catchment but this is dependent on space being available.

Do check what your catchment school is. It may not be the one you imagine it is.

Your understanding is very wrong.

We had to put my child's name on a waiting list for our local nursery when she was born.

Primary school education is different. All children must go to school so the LA must provide facilities for all.

No, all children must be educated, but they don’t need to go to school.

Haven’t read the full post but you do know that you can use a funded 2 space in a private nursery? Have you tried that as an option?

school is different to nursery, the LA are obligated to provide your child a space at school.

They are continually building new houses in our school area. Classes are capped at 33 for single age, 25 for composite. Classes are made up according to numbers in each stage . We've had to rejig classes after Christmas and Easter in the past if new pupils come in.

It’s quite likely they will stick portacabins in the playground as temporary classrooms as well. Or turn a communal space into a classroom for the years they need it. But they almost always get all the catchment kids into the school.

If it helps with your primary school place worries, the school nursery class my DSs went to had a maximum capacity of 15 per session, so total 30 children. Reception intake was 60 children.

Maybe yours is the same?

The council will set criteria for priority if it is likely that a school will be oversubscribed, and not allow placements from out of catchment. I know this because it happened in our area a few years ago. The council will have projections for what the school rolls will be.

I'm afraid their only duty is to provide the hours. We live in a small town with 1 nursery but have 2 primary schools. My DD had to go to a nursery in a different village for a year. Also when my DS started nursery, some of his classmates were from a different village because their nursery was at capacity. I had to use a childminder before he was 3 too because there were no private nurseries in the area. It's stressful.

Had this situation (in scotland) 10 years ago. Eldest got a nursery placement too far away to walk (about 6 miles) it took some juggling with grandparents, childminder filling in gaps and breakfast club to manage it but we managed. Nursery was fantastic, eldest got placed in catchment nursery the next year and some of my fondest memories are of walking my eldest through the woods to get to the nursery. Had to park quite a bit away as the car park was so busy. It's disappointing and upsetting but good things can come from it.

But it there is a large new build then this will surely be a possibility?

Why don't you find a nursery close to where you work instead?

@PartyRingaRosie

Are you taking on board what is being said? It’s worrying that you want sources for everything instead of just accepting the advice from those of us who have done all this.

You can use any childcare setting and claim the funded hours. You have to pay for any extra etc. And the funded hours are barely fully funded so you’re going to get a fright over that probably.

The council do no provide nursery places. They have some, but not a lot. Most people use private nurseries and childminders, and the funded hours are paid to those providers.

Fingers crossed someone will drop out. All you can do is remain on the waiting list.
Good luck!

In Scotland, srate nurseries don't have catchment areas. Is there a state nursery near your work?

Are there nurseries near your work that you could use?

"My understanding is that the LA provides 30 hours free childcare"

No they don't. The LA provides 30 hours of funding. They don't provide 30 hours of childcare - two different things. But I get it, you've made an honest mistake. Get alternative childcare and move on. Your DD will be fine.

Surely the council have an obligation to ensure there are adequate early years education facilities to accommodate local residents?

How would they manage that? They can't tell how many people with nursery age children will move into an area, and nurseries' capacity may be restricted by staff numbers or physical space. These things are notoriously hard to predict.

When they built a new secondary school in my town, the LEA proudly claimed it would meet the needs of the town for several decades. It was a mere 10 years before they needed to extend it, because more homes had been built so more kids within catchment, and after 20 years they had to start bussing kids from town to two village comps, 3 & 6 miles away.

Okay, I drove 40 miles each way when DD was little as a single parent so I could work. There were 15 hours of free childcare which were useless if you had a full-time job. If there is a space ten miles away, take it until something better comes along. Childcare is a perennial problem for working parents and huge gains have been made in recent years so honestly, the main thing is to find a place for your DC and make it work, knowing that it is temporary and the main thing is the care your DC receives. That might not be helpful, but seriously, focus on thinking about how to make it work, not that it’s not fair.

You’ve really misunderstood.

nursery is not compulsory and no nursery or LA is obligated to provide your child a place.

Nursery places are like hens teeth around here. Most of us used childminders.

Also wrt your concern that you won’t be able to get a primary place when the time comes, it’s much easier for the LA to provide primary places compared to nurseries as the child to adult ratio is different. 1:8 in nursery vs 1:25 in primary.

But children don’t have to use the 30 funded hours a week. Some parents may use some of the hours, others none at all as some people will not require childcare or will use grandparents. How can a local authority judge what the demand will be?

Primary school education is different. All children must go to school so the LA must provide facilities for all.