Private nursery to primary school

As a childminder all my mindees stay full time until starting reception. Never have a problem getting a place and teachers always remark on how well prepared, socialised and independent they are.

Maybe you live near me @BuffaloHigh or maybe more likely is that not everywhere has the same types of pre school provision

Nursery provision varies wildly across the country - in Tower Hamlets for example practically all children attend a school nursery (or so I was told by the council) whereas our town in Essex has very few schools with nursery classes.

I am not sure "school nurseries" would appear on a council web site although they might, they would be on the school web site - they are often treated as just another class in the school, which is why there is the confusion about admissions.

40 years ago I went to the nursery attached to a school on the strict understanding that I was not allowed to attend the school itself (something to do with how catchment worked then, we did not live on the estate) - my mum just sent me to school on the first day anyway and by the time the council had worked it out they just went "oh well, stay then". You couldn't do that now! I remember sitting in the hall as everyone's name was called for their class - and mine wasn't.

I don't know why some find that hard to accept

@Bartmama - just make sure you get your application in on time! The applications window for September entry, opens 1 September the previous year, and usually closes mid January of 4 months later (but check when it closes).

So if your son’s age will be 4 on 1 Sept 2022, you need to apply this autumn.

You may struggle to get a place at your choice of state secondary school if your child attends private primary
But that certainly doesn't apply for nursery.

Nurseries are nurseries. Some are preschools attached to schools but not related in terms of getting a place as far as I know.

Most primary schools admission criteria are along the lines of:
Looked after children, children of returning crown servants (diplomats, bfpo etc), distance, catchment, siblings, parishioners (for church schools), medical need, children of school staff (recently introduced by DD’s primary) in various orders of priority.

Never the nursery/daycare they previously attended. That’s ridiculous, preschool education isn’t even compulsory!!

There are no school nurseries in my town. There are council run nurseries but they aren’t connected to particular schools.

Anyway as others have said, it makes no difference. Open days for schools will be this term (assuming they’re running this year) so have a look at the schools’ websites.

@caughtinanet I don't think the ones in my area would be on the council website. The one at the primary school we use is in a building in the school grounds, is basically school hours but isn't run by the school or council. It's a charity I think. It's still classed as the school nursery as it's on the school site.

I can't see any school nurseries on the council website

For the pp who asked, how a child settles doesn't depend on if they went to the school nursery or not. Often the nurseries are pretty separate from the rest of the school, so it's almost like starting from scratch for all the children in Reception.

www.gov.uk/schools-admissions/how-to-apply

Short answer is no.

Whether you went to the school's preschool / nursery has no bearing on whether you'll get into the school. If the child at the school nursery is the younger sibling of a child in the school then they will get priority.

One thing to note (which I didn't know until recently) is when the end date is for your nursery contract. Some of my friends got caught out because their contract ended on 31st July unless they extended it for a month by the 30th June! She really needed the childcare for august so was lucky to spot it.

Reception classes can also have staggered starts. I'm lucky and my son is full time from day one, but some schools here have a 3-4 week induction before they go to school for the full day. Some nurseries will offer wrap around care for this but not all.

As far as I know school nurseries don't even exist in my County

That's pretty unusual - they might be using a different term like preschool or kindergarten?

Also have a think about what you will do for wrap around care and school holiday provision. School isn't childcare and there's still 13 weeks a year you need childcare.

All childcare settings have to follow the EYFS curriculum as well so the only 'disadvantage' he could have is not being as familiar with a school setting (uniform, playground etc) as those in a school nursery. Saying that, mine moved countries days prior to starting school and had absolutely no issues. So its not really a disadvantage if that makes sense...

He won't be the only one.

How old is your DC? Because if he is 4 next August, you will need to apply for him to start school next September. School admissions in our local authority area close in NOVEMBER for the following September.

So what I'm trying to say is if he's three, look at applying for schools ASAP.

I think the majority of nurseries are private aren’t they? It has no bearings.