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Is it normal to have TV on at pre school?

9 replies

Thunderrolls · 18/09/2026 19:35

3 year old has just started our local primary schools pre school. He was late starting (as we were on holiday) and only doing 2 days a week so he’s only been in 3 times. So far he’s told me they’ve watched TV, number blocks and a programme about a monkey although he wasn’t sure what it was. He’s also told me they’ve had biscuits and cupcakes at lunch time.
The school is rated outstanding (not sure how that relates to the nursery part) but I’m a bit shocked they’re putting the tele on for them. Is this normal? They’re also meant to do forest school on Thursdays but he told me this didn’t happen. I know at 3 he might not be the most accurate source of info but I’ve no reason to assume he’s making it up.

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stargirl1701 · 18/09/2026 20:24

My DC went to an outdoor Kindergarten so there was no tech for the children.

Meand2Ls · 18/09/2026 20:02

Yeah my son’s pre school room do about an hour a day split into chunks. Usually numberblocks/alphablocks/colour blocks and then they usually get an episode of balamory or something similar as well.
No biscuits/cake but they have a lunchtime dessert which rotates between fruit yoghurt, custard or ice cream

Superscientist · 18/09/2026 19:48

Depending on the weather it could be as an option for indoor play. My daughters school some times puts Julia Donaldson TV on over wet play times.

In reception they used to watch Topsy and Tim episodes where it matched in with things they were learning about.

From the cake and biscuits - my daughters school and preschool do cake and biscuits as pudding. My daughter has a lot of food allergies so I know the recipes for most of the foods. They make the cupcakes out of apple puree, flour and oil and the biscuits are most flour, veg block and a little sugar.

2chocolateoranges · 18/09/2026 19:46

I work in early years have a screen, we use it for educational maths websites, we occasionally put a story on it for the children to watch. We also have cosmic yoga or Danny go on occasionally for the children to relax to or dance.

if it’s a religious festival such as Easter or Diwali we usually put a child friendly clip on that explains the festival.

most days it has relaxing music playing from it with a screen saver on it.

hopspot · 18/09/2026 19:46

My class watch number blocks once a week and an episode of Andy’s wild adventures on a Friday. They’re educational and the children enjoy them. There’s still lots of other types of learning.

LiquoriceAllsorts2 · 18/09/2026 19:42

How long is he there for. If only a couple of hours a day I wouldn’t want tv but if for the full day don’t see a problem, some down time is probably needed. I also would have no problem with alphablocks or number blocks as they are very effective at teaching numbers and letters.

not doing forest school isn’t good if that was expected but maybe your son didnt realise that’s what it is or it doesn’t kick in straight away.

Lolalovesroses · 18/09/2026 19:39

My son went to full time nursery and the TV did go on. He watched number blocks and a phonics show. The episodes are only about 10 minutes long and it was used between transitioning between activities.

Pachycephalosaurus · 18/09/2026 19:37

Ours occasionally uses TV, but there's always some educational element to it. It's not every day.

Your local council probably has an approved snack and lunch foods list? Check it and see if they are within guidelines.

ThatJadeLion · 18/09/2026 19:36

Number blocks is brilliant for learning. I personally wouldn't be concerned over this.