To ask if you think a nursery that is part of a private school…

[Hurserynur]

Is better than a general nursery? Cost is the same. Obviously the setting is much nicer at the private school but some people are telling me that private school nursery won’t be as focused on that age as a general nursery etc.

*staff ratios not 3 staff

We moved our daughter from a nursery attached to a private schools as the care wasn’t adequate, on two occasions when we collected her she was wearing the nappy we had sent her in. A child was also left behind at a farm park, it was only discovered at pick up (a late trip meant everyone had to pick up at the same time) and a parent had no one to collect, said child was brough back by the police. Thank goodness it was a booked event so the staff knew where this child was from, and that staff were there to keep them safe.

I work in an independent with a nursery. The nursery staff work in the nursery only. The nurswry manager works for the nursery only. It is an important part of what we do - as a PP said, we are hoping people will stay right through to senior school. We also have specialised staff teach in the nursery a couple of times a week - you don't pay any extra for that.

DS went to a private school nursery. To be honest it was very similar to lots of other nurseries in the town, I chose it because the staff were nice, the outdoor play area was good and it was close to home. It was good but nothing particularly special that I couldn’t have got elsewhere. General consensus where we live is that the local authority run nursery is the best one but they only do short sessions so not great if you work.

Interestingly hardly anyone from DS’s nursery stayed on at the school, they practically all went to the local state primaries (which tend to be good)

Moved mine over into the private nursery/kindergarten age 2 and 3. There was a world of difference. It was an hour shorter session but they came home shattered every day, they seemed to pack a lot in.

A lot of the benefits I found hard to define but behaviour expectations were higher and the staff were older, the old place they had nearly all been very young like teenagers/early 20's. I feel that extra experience showed in their expectations of the children. My 2 year old was late to talk she was 2 years 1 month when she started and saying very little but understanding everything and her speech just went crazy within days of starting there, it all came flooding out.

They went back to their old nursery for half term and holidays when the spaces were available but they were bored stiff and said they didn't like it any more. That was a bit sad.

I worked in one many years ago. It was great for recruiting to the school because the school fees were pretty similar to the nursery fees and meant working parents could just continue as they were with the same hours covered by before and after school clubs. A lot of children stayed on.

My DS is at one, his sister was there before. We love it. It has the most outside space of anywhere else local. Specialist teachers (art, music, sport, ballet, drama). Lower ratios in pre school. Guaranteed place for reception and for DD it was a smooth transition. Downsides are the long holidays plus he’s too little for camps. Also he won’t nap there as he’s free to wonder into the upper nursery class and chooses that over a snooze with the lowers. I’ve never heard of one taking babies though, ours is from 2 and half, most are from 3. So I don’t know how relevant our experience would be to you.

@TropicalTrama thats my worry really, they’ve only just this year started with one year olds. My feeling is to go with the private one but I can’t put my finger on why!!

Absolutely no right answer to your question OP. Everyone will tell you their opinion based on the nurseries they have knowledge of. I don’t think we can generalise.

In my case, yes the private school nursery was ‘better’ in terms of staff (high retention rate and good ratios), facilities (use of school pool, bushcraft, play equipment, art and music provision etc). Every year half of the nursery children leave at 4 to go to local state schools - no pressure to remain at the private school. The local nursery my children went to before the school one was actually ‘better’ at basic academics. The 3-4yr olds used to have phonics sessions and knew a lot before they started reception. At the private school nursery, phonics was only done with children who showed interest, while others played. Don’t assume that a nursery attached to a private school will push academics - in my limited experience it was the opposite.

The only way to really answer your question is to compare the two nurseries yourself and ask questions.

Trust your gut feel

Doesn't it depend on the individual
Nursery?

I don't think the ratio for pre school can be more than 1:6. And I think it's 1:3 for under 2s? Could be wrong of course.

I don't think it's better or worse, it's just another setting. We went to see one attached to a private school with DD1 and I didn't like it at all. It has good inspection ratings but I found it cold and clinical and didn't think much of the staff. The nursery we picked was the polar opposite. But that wasn't down to private v not, just two very different settings.

Private school nursery’s are typically feeders into the main school. I looked at sending my daughter to our local one but they made it clear it was only for children who were planning on moving into the pre-prep. I had no intention of sending my child there so decided it wasn’t for us.

My daughter is now at a different private school and whilst the nursery is excellent, it is extremely structured, professional and the kids wear the same school uniform as the pre-prep children. It was all a bit much. I actually preferred the more laid back rough and tumble of our village nursery. The big difference for us was I was a SaHM so nursery was a couple of mornings a week rather than full time. I might have chosen differently if that had been the case. Go with your gut you know your child.

From what I've seen, most are very nice!

They're designed to hook you in though... "Oh, I'll just keep them there until they finish KS1..." and before you know it they're still there for A-Levels.

@CurlewKate the preschool class is allowed to have a ratio of up and to 1:13 if there’s a qualified teacher

@Hurserynur Do you work and are they closed over the holidays? If yes to both I wouldn’t even consider it. It’s one thing with a 3YO when tennis camp will take them mornings only, then they can come home and watch a movie without trying to kill themselves so you can get a bit of work done but a 1YO - forget it!

They are usually well resourced and they are usually to try to boost numbers going into the main school so they are certainly valued and not ignored in favour of the ‘school’ ime (work in the sector).