Sending toddler to private nursery as long as possible?

[babysnark123]

My toddler can go to free nursery next September (2027) or stay in current nursery and go to reception 2028.

I see no reason to keep them at private nursery. They would be in a room with children just turned 2 and I just think they will have outgrown the nursey. There are 31 children in the nursey room, but not all attend every day etc. They also cater for sen children, and that's included in the 31 children.

Private nursery than care is just at one place and 51 weeks a year. Wrap around care is provided term time at the nursey attached to the school and I would use holiday club/annual leave the rest of the year

Aibu in thinking that a 4 year old is too old for private nursery?

Pre school is often what school nursery is called. Some private nurseries also have a pre school room.
It’s typically for children aged 3-4 and focuses on getting them ‘school ready’.

My children school doesn’t have a nursery attached so had no choice but keep them at a private nursery, however there is two pre-school rooms with around 80% of the children going to the local primary school once they hit school age.

If the nursery is a mixed age group room, personally I wouldn’t like this. It also depends if any of their peer group will be moving up to the local school making the transition easier once they’re in reception.

If the school nursery offers wraparound and potentially a holiday club, then I’d be considering that to make the move to reception smoother for your child.

I would say in our area very few private nurseries are 1 group for 2-5 age (Scotland so no reception school age is earliest 4.5years)

DS1 stayed at private nursery and DS2 will be doing the same. The ratios are smaller, he's in a preschool group and they get out a lot more then the school nurseries do.
For us it was/is a lot easier it covered all the holidays and they were settled.

The move up to school level you could only tell for the first half term who had been at the school nursery and who hadn't due to friendships but they soon adapted.

Both of mine moved to School nursery, eldest private nursery picked her up at lunchtime and she was there for the afternoon. Youngest went to childminder after school as daughter was in reception and school nursery offered longer days that year.

Some of my eldest's friends stayed at private nursery till starting reception as logistically it was the best option. Eldest just about to leave Primary with the same children, absolutely no difference between them 7 years down the line in terms of what they did in the year prior to reception.

Do you think your child needs a new environment to challenge them?

Do the logistics work? will the wrap around care take a nursery aged child, will they have space, lots of schools state they have wrap around but spaces are scarce. That maybe the questions you need to consider.

Mine stayed at private nursery with preschoolers the same age. School nursery wasn’t an option as I worked

Well you don’t even know what preschool is so perhaps you need to speak with your nursery directly in order to understand their structure.
There will be almost 5 year olds in private nursery. Even private nurseries will cover the preschool curriculum and prepare children for school, so no, considering a significant proportion of 4 year olds will stay and receive preschool education within a private nursery setting, it is not “too old”.

We stayed at private nursery until school but they had a 3-5 year old room. They were taught early phonics and were ready for school.
It's difficult to find holiday clubs in my area and most only take from 5 year old / year 1.
Holiday clubs that run from 8am or till 5pm or 6pm is tricky where I live.
Nursery was easy compared to finding holiday clubs and other things to do in the school holidays. Most children get 13 weeks a year.

Private nursery perfectly fine for a 4 year old. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Why wouldn’t it be? Ours was fantastic and so much better than the school nursery.

I personally would stay with year round care as absolutely long as possible until you don’t have a choice.

Because it's a different concept

The nursery I use do different activities with the children in the preschool based on their abilities / age etc anyway.

So those heading off to school do school preparation activities, but the younger ones will be doing something else.

Honestly never crossed my mind it could be considered an issue really - I’ve never heard anyone complain their child is being held back in any way.

If you have an autumn born child they may be raring to go to school and bored of the nursery - but I think that would be any nursery, as they will be a lot older than their peers regardless!

My daughter went to a private pre-school (still term time only opening) that takes children from age 2 to school age in one big room. I contemplated sending her to the school nursery but it made sense to keep her at the private pre-school as they shut at 4:30pm not 3:15pm and fitted in with our jobs plus she absolutely loved it there. They also did age appropriate activities with the older ones and she could write her name etc before she left last July.
My only concern was her being brand new into the school in reception but she settled easily and has made lots of friends.
I will have the same debate with my son (only 6 months at the moment!) whether to send him to the school nursery for ease of drop off/pick up however he is a late August birthday so not sure how he would cope with being in a school environment at just turned 3 but we will wait and see!

We did private nursery until school but the private nursery split them by age and employed a qualified early years teacher in the pre-school room.

I’d choose the best available based on mine and my child's needs. We needed all year care and long hours so school pre-school wasn’t an option.

Most of DD’s EYFS peers came from private nursery or childminder.

Thanks. So they call all the staff Early Years Edicators or they are training.

I kept mine at private nursery because there was no wrap around care at the time. There were lots of kids the same age in the pre-school class. None of the children in our social group went to school nursery, as parents were all working full time.

In what way is it a different concept?

It’s literally the same concept, it’s why the 30 hours exist. You either use the 30 hours in a free school nursery or you apply the 30 free hours to get the same time “free”.

Private nurseries will have a preschool class based on age, school nurseries will have the same aged class. Both settings will be using the EYFS for preschool aged children and covering the same general concepts for development.

Private nursery. They don't call themselves preschool do they

They do in our private nursery. It goes baby room, toddler room, preschool.

No but all private nurseries I've encountered have a pre school room for children 3 or 3.5 and over.

Both should cater to pre schoolers. My DD did a mix of both once she turned three, so she could complete nursery with the DC she grew up with and had somewhere to go during the school holidays and settled in gradually to her new school. DD is in reception now and still goes to the nursery during school holidays.

I would check the holiday club takes them at 4, my schools one doesn’t take them till 5 because of ratios xx

All my boys (4 of them) attended a nursery attached to the primary school I wanted them to go to & then when they started in reception, they already knew some children in their class.
Edited for spelling

Not sure why you’re being so snarky when you’re completely misunderstanding how a private nursery works.

You’re very much in the wrong here.

Some people choose a school nursery because they don’t need out of term care, it’s affiliated with a school which can mean you’re higher up the admissions criteria at a certain school and the child will have had an extra being closely affiliated with the school.
In terms of care, curriculum, school readiness etc a private nursery covers the exact same things and have to by law. Private nurseries are designed specifically to cater to 3 & 4 years olds, as well as younger children and babies.
The benefit of a private nursery is wrap around care, setting consistency for the child and often a higher teacher/ carer to child ratio.

I kept ds in private nursery until he left to start school and will do the same for DD. I guess there’s an argument for changing the environment if the primary school you want them to go to have a school nursery but ours didn’t and I have found a lot of school nurseries to be very ‘school like’, insisting on five days a week attendance and turning up on time etc. I like the flexibility of private nursery.

They did at ours. baby room, toddler room and pre school.

Snarky yourself