Sending toddler to private nursery as long as possible?

It's not so much "private nursery vs school nursery", it's more "your private nursery vs school nursery".

DD stayed in a private nursery until she started school but they had a pre-school room so she was with her peers and doing everything she would in a school setting.

Their ofsted inspection even described it as "a pre-school education in a private nursery setting"

It was an excellent nursery and we were confident in our choice.

I can see being less certain on staying in nursery if she was going to be with much younger children.

You need to be confident of wraparound and school holidays though if you're both working. None of the holiday clubs round here would take kids below Reception age.

Same curriculum. Same ratio. Lots of evidence over decades showing children actually develop more with a mixed age range (this is what the whole "foundation stage" as opposed to reception/year one was based on.)

you get the same funding either way. Go for the one that's most convenient.

Have you been to see the school nursery you want to send your child to?

We did because we both worked full time and the school pre-school didn’t offer the hours we needed.
There’s no right or wrong answer. It’s what ever suits your particular circumstances.

They have to follow the same curriculum.

You will get funder hours too at the private one.

Go for the one that is most convenient, assuming you are working too and can afford it.

Reception is soon enough to be juggling holidays. Its hard if you both work.

I kept mine in private nursery until they started school. DDs were in a room with 2-5 year olds but it was a small nursery (about 9 in 0-2s and 20 in 2-5s) so they could tailor activities to each age group which is harder with more children.
DS was also in private nursery until school age but that was because of his Sen which I think a school nursery would have struggled to cope with.
The nursery you use doesn't sound brilliant if 60 kids are just running round so I'd move on that basis.

Private nursery was a big room from
age 2 to starting school so a big age range. Though they did take the preschoolers off into groups for some activities. School nursery they were all a similar age and moved into reception together. My daughter settled much better into reception than my son.

Double and triple check! i know more than one person who had to hire a nanny or quit their job due to “nursery wrap around care” being so limited that it was basically nonexistent (but heavily advertised as available…)

Mine went to private nursery until they started school, there was no option as I needed the full time hours. There were many pre school children there.

Also check wrap around provision specifically for nursery. They will be limited by ratios so will probably only be able to take a few nursery aged children.

Op, in my experience people who CAN do school nursery so as it is term time only. So SAHM or parents who are in the teaching profession. Those in private nursery choose that due to the 51 week care they can offer.
was that what you were looking to hear? You first post was not very clear?

Do you work? if yes, double and triple check holiday clubs!
Many holiday clubs only take kids from reception onwards. The ones who take younger kids often only have a handful of places, and often super short hours (10 to 2 or similar) and/or very high prices. plus not all 3 year olds deal well with having different people looking after them every day .
our local school nursery has a holiday clubs on paper - in reality it runs 4 days per week from 10 to 2, for 5-6 kids, and you can prebook a maximum of 2 days.

It’s often about what works best for the family around jobs.

I work in a reception class and at this point in the year there is no difference between those who went to our nursery and those who came from private nursery. The main difference when they start is they don’t know the other children and staff but that doesn’t cause any issues and the children happily play together from day one.

Mine all stayed in private nursery up to starting reception. The nursery we used had two pre-school only rooms that were for children who were 3 & 4 and there were a fair chunk of children who newly started only for pre-school funded hours. The reason we kept them in was because we both worked and the term time only hours didn't work for us plus all food etc was included and I didn't have to worry about packed lunches. They all knew the nursery and staff really well and loved going. With the eldest we also had no idea where he'd be going to school so putting him in a pre-school attached to a school he might not have got into seemed silly. There's really no right or wrong, you have to decide based on your circumstances, your child and the provision available locally.

I kept mine in private nursery which had a preschool room for age 3 upwards, and as above they often split into two groups for different activities. He loved it there, we knew the staff well and the hours were more useful for us as we work full time.

The school he's at now has a preschool but we will keep his siblings in the private nursery just as we did with him. Again, they like being there, the staff are great and we don't have to faff around with wrap around care.

I kept mine in private, but he was in a room with 3-4 year olds.
I'll be doing the same with DD.

reasons being; he enjoyed it so I didn't see the point in moving him unnecessarily. Also due to being year round care.
holiday clubs in my area don't start until 5 year old so I had an extra year of not worrying about childcare

I kept my oldest DD in private nursery until school and I will be keeping my youngest in private until school also but both nurseries have a designated preschool room for those over 3 and then split into 2 groups at times for those who are school leavers that year and those that aren't. My oldest DD loved her setting and learnt to write her name and basics of phonics in her preschool room. I also didn't need extra years of juggling school holidays!

You have to go with your gut on your what your setting can offer and whether it suits your particular child. It sounds in your case that school nursery would be more stimulating and that you can work out holiday childcare so maybe that is the best option for your child.

I kept my son in private nursery til reception as school nursery had no wrap around care. By the time my daughter started, they’d started a wrap around care club so she went to nursery the term after she was 3. I’d have preferred my son to go to the nursery at school but just wasn’t doable with work.