Childcare after nursery

Depends as well where you are. In Scotland they can go to free school nursery 9-3 basically as soon as they turn 3.

I think you're being quite blunt considering it's you that doesn't understand what you're asking.

Children do not have to go to a 'state nursery'. Private nurseries also take children until they go to school too, and most opt to stay at them because they offer longer opening hours and all year round sessions, unlike a school nursery.

Anything you use over your funded hours would be charged.

If you can find a job where your working hours are between 9am and 3pm every day, then you could use a school 'free' nursery but then even then, there would likely be too up fees above what the funding covers as the funding does not provide nurseries with enough to actually cover the childcare they are providing and nurseries are allowed to charge a fee to cover things such as food.

@coldandflu school nursery here is available from the September after they are 3, but you have to put their name down from birth almost to get a place. It not a guaranteed thing like school. It doesn't have to be your local school either.
They also only go for morning or afternoon here, so 9-12 or 12-3. No lunch provided.
Parents who use school nursery either don't work or have a child minder who does pick up or drop off.
ETA
We just kept DS at his private nursery until he went to school at 4, much easier abd he knew everyone. The school we wanted him to go to didn't have a nursery class and I didn't want to move him twice. Most private nurseries do a "preschool" year, where they follow the early years curriculum.

My daughter has just started at a school nursery.

The day is 8.45 - 3.15 there. My daughter only does half a day as we qualify for 15 hours funded childcare, not 30 hours (state nurseries aren’t free, they use the funded hours same as private nurseries). However the kids in her class that are there all day have to pay £2 a day to cover staff supervision for lunch time as this goes beyond the funded hours.

They have limited hours and term time only, which is why most parents choose to keep children in private nurseries that are all year round and use longer hours.

The funding kicks in the term after they turn 3.

For me as a SAHM this works brilliantly, but most working parents keep their kids in private nurseries. You can use a childminder for wraparound but this would cost

My child went to the same private nursery she started at when she was a baby till she started school. (Which is the September after they turn 4). I chose to keep her there for a few different reasons but one reason was that I worked so of course the nursery was open all year from half 7 till 6 so suitable for work.

From what you're saying, the nursery your child currently goes to is only for really young children so either way you'll have to move him. You'll need to decide whether to move him to a private nursery that goes from baby to school age or childminder or pre-school at a school.

My child stayed in nursery until he went to school. He had his 'pre school' hours in nursery. I.e the funded hours the government give you. We had to pay the hours that weren't funded so for us that was 8am-0930am and then 1530-1800 on his days he attended nursery. Whilst he was in what they called the pre school room so for children ages 3-4 yrs, he started more of a structured day in readiness for school and did things like having a register taken, activities on tables like crafts or maths games. There was still plenty of play too. Does the nursery at your work take children until they leave for school ? If not you might have to move nurseries to find one that does. There is no need to find a term time only pre school for your child to have pre school education. My nursery was open all year Including school holidays and when my ds was in the preschool room during the holidays there was just a little more play that happened as there where slightly less children as some who attended did only term time. I know funding now can be accessed earlier which should help cut the cost of paid child care

At least I understand my childcare options 🤣

Yeah this. Everyone gets 30 hours free per week. School nurseries tend to be a lot cheaper than private nurseries but then they are term time only and 8:45am until 3:15pm roughly.

People are confused because you’re asking a question that assumes kids all go to a free state nursery at some point. They don’t. The only definite thing that all children do is start school in the September when they are 4 years old, with their 5th birthday from 1 sept that year, to 31 aug the next year.

Before that there are lots of different options. You get some free hours which you can put towards nursery or preschool provision of your choice.

He went to a private nursery from 11 months until he started school aged 4.

Age 3-4 you can get pre school places at childcare attached to a primary. You can use your funded hours for this and you don’t pay

outside of that - before/after hours to work with your employment hours or during school holidays you’ll have to pay or use family help

But as others have said the school nursery are term time only and so we kept our ds in private nursery until he started school this September.

I think every school nursery operates differently. At my ds school they attend nursery and then can access after school club with the main school from Age 3. This is paid. I don't think this is the case for all schools though and you will need to check with your school nursery.

Nursery isn't free - not even a school-based nursery. Free education starts the September after they turn 4.

Some school-based nurseries will be very low cost if you can work around their hours. Usually they'll do a morning and an afternoon session, and you have to either take them home in-between or pay for lunch, and a top-up fee. These nurseries (usually known as a pre-school) are attached to a school and work on school hours and terms. There might be after-school care and holiday clubs if the school run them? Our school doesn't accept nursery children to afterschool or holiday club though, and there is only one childminder who picks up from the school. It's very much aimed at children of SAHMs, to prepare them for school. Children don't usually go there full time.

If you work full time you most likely need to keep your child in a private day nursery, as most working parents do. They will finish at that pre-school the August before they start school in the September.

Your posts are really confusing, sorry.

Your child doesn’t just “go” to a state nursery - he goes where you send him. If you’re not happy with the way the nursery is set up for 2-4 year olds then you can move him but you’d need to organise that.

If you mean childcare when he starts school at 4, the school may have clubs before and after school (these can fill up quickly, though), or you’d need to look for a local childminder that covers those hours.

What free nursery? What 9am-3pm nursery?

I think you should speak to your current nursery about applying for 30 funded hours for working parents (which you get for 39 weeks of the year), https://www.gov.uk/free-childcare-if-working

However every nursery applies the hours differently. My child's nursery stretches the funding across 51 weeks of the year.

Alternatively look at local preschools if you want term time only 9-3, community ones may have what you're looking for.

To help you navigate the childcare system, and find out your options locally, I advise that you talk to someone in your Local Council's Family Information Service you can find their details at https://finder.familyandchildcaretrust.org/kb5/fct/childcarefinder/home.page - they often have a brokerage service and can explain how things work.

Not sure if this is the info you’re after but my son goes to a state nursery. It was available to us the term after he turned 3. Because of when his birthday falls (spring) he’ll do a year (now -July) in this nursery before starting school in reception next September. It is term time only and goes from 8.30-3.30. You can also do half days (8.30-11.30 or 12.30-3.30). As far as I can tell, people use childminders/nannies to do pick up at 3.30 and cover the last couple of hours of work time. There’s also a few parents who seem to wfh and do pick up. As far as I can tell, most working parents stick with private nurseries unless they already have a kid in school (so are dealing with school holidays etc already). If you have any other questions, let me know!

There's no standard, every setting is different.

It also may not be completely free as settings can charge for lunches and activities.

There is one local school to be that has a nursery class for 2-3 year olds and one for 3-4 year olds.

Some state nurseries might take babies too.

If you are keen to move your child from their current nursery you will need to call or visit your local schools and see what they offer.

It differs from school to school but mine is mostly September in the year before they start reception (unless they have free spaces in which case it's the term after they turn three). So if they're due to start Reception in September 2027, it's typically the school nursery in September 2026. However it's up to you to find a way to deal with wrap around and holiday care as discussed above. Or you can claim 30 funded hours term time at your current nursery who will also have to run pre-school activities for the 3-4 year olds even if they're in the same room as 2 year olds (part of the Early Years Foundation Stage EYFS curriculum - Ofsted look at this).

As you’ve seen here there are all sorts of answers and really it depends on your local authority and school, so where I am the school year after they turn 3 they’re invited to “school readiness” sessions at school nursery for 2-3 hours a day term time only, local providers ferry the kids around the town, from their private nursery to school nursery. So I still dropped off at 7.30am and collected at 6pm. The same for the year after they turn 4 and go to reception, that’s a longer school day 9-3 but still the same providers are available for wraparound care and I can drop off at 7.30.

nobody here on the thread can tell you what your specific options are. And it feels boggling but the nurseries and school do this all day so phone around and ask

Do you need to move them to state nursery? I’m keeping mine in private nursery for preschool as the hours are longer. It’s very difficult to find holiday clubs for that age if not impossible. So if you did you would most likely need to use a child minder in holidays and for wrap round cover.