Attending nursery of a different school before 4+ admission assessments

[nbmom]

Just planning ahead.

So our DD was born in Sep and there is good private school nearby (School A) which starts at nursery then goes straight to secondary school. Nursery here starts as early as Jan after she turns 3. While we like School A for its pastoral reputation, it is also not known to be very academic and so isn't our top choice but a good solid back-up nonetheless, assuming we get an offer.

Our top school choices all start from 4+ with assessments taking place late in the year when DD turns 4 or in Jan the following year. To complicate things further, School A has 2 classes for its nursery but only a handful of places for reception, which nursery students automatically gain admission to.

So realistically to secure any offer from School A we need to start nursery with them, even before DD gets to be assessed by other higher ranked choices. We'd guess there might be the added benefit of starting school nursery early (vs a daycare nursery) which could help prepare her for the 4+ assessments - would be good to hear thoughts on this / if that's the case.

First question - is it frowned upon to attend a private school's nursery (School A) for 1-1.5 year, only then to move to another (better ranked) school for reception? Should we be honest about this with School A, or is it better to inform them only when we have secured an offer and are determined to move DD to another school for reception?

How easy or common is it to take days off at the nursery level, especially for a private school nursery (as opposed to daycare nursery where this is not an issue)? Asking this as DD will presumably have to take a number of days off during the 4+ assessments.

Thanks!

If there are more nursery slots than reception slots at school A and the nursery kids automatically get reception slots, doesn’t that mean that many kids do what you’re suggesting? Go to the nursery and then a different school?

Thanks McSpoot. That's the question - is this a common practice or is it frowned upon? My guess is as School A isn't known to be very academic, most parents are local and plan to have their DDs go from nursery through to secondary school, so the reception slots still remain limited in the end...

Would you know if attendance is generally considered important in a private school nurseries, as DD would have to take days off for any 4+ assessments?

It's commonplace to use the nursery of a different school when your first choice doesn't have nursery provision.

No-one is going to mind her having a few days off for 4+ exams. And even if they did...what are they going to do? It's nursery school not a gulag!

When you say she was born in September do you mean a few weeks ago? If so, I'd seriously chill out on this issue for a while!

Thanks NuffSaidSam - good to know it is commonplace. The alternative is to have DD stay at her current daycare nursery, then go through School A's 4+ admissions process instead (more competitive, limited slots), together with the other schools' 4+ assessments. DD's born last year. 😄

I guess the question for us is whether we should be honest upfront about our plans with School A or not - these assessments usually take 2 days per school and if we're applying to a handful of schools then it would take a couple weeks off her attendance... Effectively we're telling School A they're not our top choice...

School A's policy documents do indicate while it is expected most nursery students gain admission to reception, occassionally they would consider this to be not in the best interest of the child and give notice...🙄

You honestly don't need to worry about it. The school are not going to care one way or the other. Tell them or don't. Absolutely no-one cares. Some kids stay, some kids leave; this is true at 4+ and again at 7+ (and at 11+ if it's a school that goes all the way through). It's also the case that people move location or switch to state school or just don't like the school. The school are not going to lose sleep over whether your child stays for reception or not.

Equally with the days off, no-one really cares at nursery age. Lots of kids will have extended time out to visit relatives abroad for example. Your child won't be the only one doing 4+ assessments and taking time out to do so. I would very surprised if the 4+ assessment takes two full days though. It's usually no more than a few hours and you can drop her back to school after if you're that concerned about her attendance.

Thanks 🙂

In my experience, School A would be encouraging all parents to have a “back up” anyway. Especially given your wording about the “best interest of the child”.

You will have no trouble taking her out of Nursery for a few days to sit the 4+ at other schools.

I wouldn’t say anything to School A about the other assessments until you have a spot somewhere else.

If it is the only independent school offering 1.5 years of pre-school/ante pre-school in the immediate area they will have encountered this before. The children in the other schools’ reception classes come from somewhere!

Especially given your daughter is September born, you may find she is very ready to leave “daycare” Nursery and transition to a pre-school. Children just a few weeks older than her will be starting school. My only caveat would be whether to start in the January or September. Find out from the school whether it is a cascading curriculum or whether she will find herself “repeating” the second half of the year.

Thanks FunnyOrca. Good point about the repeating curriculum - we need to check that with School A.

On current estimates DD will probably be going through 10 days of assessments - hopefully not an issue at nursery level... Fingers crossed they won't mind us still going through the 4+ assessments even though we might have already started nursery with them.

I wouldn't say they're the only independent school offering pre-school (or starts at 3y) in the area, but they're one of the better schools locally / not many good schools around here...