Rejected from Scottish nursery - please help!

[PartyRingaRosie]

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My DD has just been rejected from our local nursery (literally a 2 minute walk from home) due to capacity. I called to ask about alternatives and was told the 2 other nurseries in our village are also full. The only option the could offer was a nursery 10 miles away.

I’m really upset and worried about this. It’s not at all practical for us to be driving 10 miles each way before work every morning, and I’m also anxious that if she can’t get into a local nursery now, she may struggle to get into the local primary when the time comes.

Has anyone been in this situation? What did you do? Is there anything I can do to challenge this and push for a place locally?

OP, I would suggest you/DP also start researching your local wrap-around childcare options for when DD starts school.

LAs have no statutory obligation to provide nursery places for all. They do have an obligation to provide school places for all. Don't catastrophise about school places, just fibd out what your options are - nurseries that have a place, childminders, nannies etc, and choose the one that is the best fit for your child while staying on waiting lists for anything that might theoretically be better but isn't actually possible.

I went on the waiting list for my nursery of choice while still pregnant. It's not unusual to have waiting lists for 18 months-2 years. Or some just don't have waiting lists at all and operate an instantly-applied system each September. It's worth keeping in touch with all the local nurseries though - sometimes a child doesn't settle into a nursery and gets removed to a different option and so there might be a place coming available in 2/3 weeks.

Funded early learning and childcare for 3 to 5 year olds - mygov.scot I think there are a lot of people answering on here based on the English system. In Scotland if your child is over 3 they are entitled to 1140 hours per year nursery education, although there is nothing about where that is and that may not suit your requirements for childcare. some 2 year olds considered vulnerable are also entitled to some provision. It is worth checking as the definition of vulnerable is pretty wide ranging.

Your LA should have a team that deals with nursery placement.

Which local authority are you in?

Don't get your hopes up for wraparound care. It really isn't a thing in Scotland.

Educationally, things are very different in Scotland. I always find the "Did you get your first choice school?" stuff amusing. There's no looking around to find the "best school". Most kids just go to their catchment one.

Our council says “where possible all children will be able to access a funded place with their preferred provider however this cannot be guaranteed”

It could be that come January someone has changed their mind or moved away and a space could potentially come available? Know someone whose DS was turned down for their 1st choice initially, then was offered partial hours and by the time DS started in the January had 30 hours as other people changed there plans. Might be worth a conversation with the nursery administrator?

Do any local childminders let you use your funded hours through them?

Another avenue that you could possibly look at is if any local private schools will let you use your funded hours there? Know someone a few years ago whose mum is a teacher at a private school near us and was able to use her funded hours at the private school (her mum dropped off before work) although it was a few years ago now and not sure if every private school operates like that?

As others have said school is different you will get a place at your catchment school in P1- its only if you want to send your child to a different school that you can face problems.

I have kids and live in Scotland. I more many many people with kids who live all over Scotland. This is how it works.

You are entitled to the funded nursery hours, but not necessarily at a council ran nursery. Use the house in a private nursery.

You live in a village with three nurseries, and they’re all full?

Are they all really small?

Are there any other village children with no space?

The only option the could offer was a nursery 10 miles away.

You have been offered a place. Take it, and stop whining about your wholly fabricated grievance of being denied educational provision for your PFB.

Or, make other childcare arrangements whilst waiting for a place to open up at the nursery you feel entitled to stroll along the road to.

@PartyRingaRosie
I live in a town in Scotland with a population of 10,000 people. We only have 2 council run nurseries attacked to 2 of the primary schools. We have several primary schools with no attached nursery.

There are, however, several private nurseries in our town. It is very difficult to get a place in the council run nursery so majority go to a private nursery and the nursery claims the funded hours for your child (you get a code in the post every so often and you need to give that code to the nursery your child attends).

You seem to have got it in your head that the council is responsible for finding nursery places. They are not. They fund 30 hours; they don’t automatically give you a place. You should have been on the list for private nursery spaces months and months ago.

The school place is different. Your child will get a place at your catchment school. It is really very rare in Scotland for a child to be sent to a different school.

A quick google about the 30 hours sounds like it is the same in Scotland as it is in England, that you can only access the 30 free hours in the term following their 3rd birthday OP. Meaning it’s correct that if your child has an October birthday that you cannot get it until January. It’s always been this way in England so are you sure it’s a recent thing?

But children don’t have to use the 30 funded hours a week. Some parents may use some of the hours, others none at all as some people will not require childcare or will use grandparents. How can a local authority judge what the demand will be?

Primary school education is different. All children must go to school so the LA must provide facilities for all.

Also wrt your concern that you won’t be able to get a primary place when the time comes, it’s much easier for the LA to provide primary places compared to nurseries as the child to adult ratio is different. 1:8 in nursery vs 1:25 in primary.

You’ve really misunderstood.

nursery is not compulsory and no nursery or LA is obligated to provide your child a place.

Nursery places are like hens teeth around here. Most of us used childminders.

Okay, I drove 40 miles each way when DD was little as a single parent so I could work. There were 15 hours of free childcare which were useless if you had a full-time job. If there is a space ten miles away, take it until something better comes along. Childcare is a perennial problem for working parents and huge gains have been made in recent years so honestly, the main thing is to find a place for your DC and make it work, knowing that it is temporary and the main thing is the care your DC receives. That might not be helpful, but seriously, focus on thinking about how to make it work, not that it’s not fair.

Surely the council have an obligation to ensure there are adequate early years education facilities to accommodate local residents?

How would they manage that? They can't tell how many people with nursery age children will move into an area, and nurseries' capacity may be restricted by staff numbers or physical space. These things are notoriously hard to predict.

When they built a new secondary school in my town, the LEA proudly claimed it would meet the needs of the town for several decades. It was a mere 10 years before they needed to extend it, because more homes had been built so more kids within catchment, and after 20 years they had to start bussing kids from town to two village comps, 3 & 6 miles away.

"My understanding is that the LA provides 30 hours free childcare"

No they don't. The LA provides 30 hours of funding. They don't provide 30 hours of childcare - two different things. But I get it, you've made an honest mistake. Get alternative childcare and move on. Your DD will be fine.

Are there nurseries near your work that you could use?

In Scotland, srate nurseries don't have catchment areas. Is there a state nursery near your work?

Fingers crossed someone will drop out. All you can do is remain on the waiting list.
Good luck!

@PartyRingaRosie

Are you taking on board what is being said? It’s worrying that you want sources for everything instead of just accepting the advice from those of us who have done all this.

You can use any childcare setting and claim the funded hours. You have to pay for any extra etc. And the funded hours are barely fully funded so you’re going to get a fright over that probably.

The council do no provide nursery places. They have some, but not a lot. Most people use private nurseries and childminders, and the funded hours are paid to those providers.

Why don't you find a nursery close to where you work instead?

But it there is a large new build then this will surely be a possibility?

Had this situation (in scotland) 10 years ago. Eldest got a nursery placement too far away to walk (about 6 miles) it took some juggling with grandparents, childminder filling in gaps and breakfast club to manage it but we managed. Nursery was fantastic, eldest got placed in catchment nursery the next year and some of my fondest memories are of walking my eldest through the woods to get to the nursery. Had to park quite a bit away as the car park was so busy. It's disappointing and upsetting but good things can come from it.

I'm afraid their only duty is to provide the hours. We live in a small town with 1 nursery but have 2 primary schools. My DD had to go to a nursery in a different village for a year. Also when my DS started nursery, some of his classmates were from a different village because their nursery was at capacity. I had to use a childminder before he was 3 too because there were no private nurseries in the area. It's stressful.