Would you move youngest child to nursery at school eldest is attending?

[Coriandersucks]

Not sure title makes sense but I’ve got two dc both at private nursery a 10 minute drive away.

Eldest starts school in September half a mile away.

I’m tempted to move the youngest to the nursery attached to the new school as it would mean only one journey, they stay together (will be attending breakfast and after school club some days) and we will be taking holidays off anyway to deal with eldest so seems daft to pay to keep the other in private nursery.

Trouble is, having moved to a new area recently and just got them settled, this would mean the youngest having been in three different nurseries before he starts school. Does that matter do you think? Will it confuse him or will the benefits outweigh the cons?

Bump

I would move him, especially if you only need term time and are paying for the whole year, but is there space ? You might find there isnt space for him.

Def move. One drop off is easier esp if they do before and after care

He will make nee friends and hopefully then go to school with them

Yes

Yes. School nursery is usually a really lovely experience and it makes your life easier and cheaper. Win. win

I'd move them if there was space, it will be much easier if his elder sibling is going to the school as well.

Yes

Move him.

Best thing I did when mine were small

Watching as I'm thinking the same (for in a few years time)!

I would certainly look into it and check school nursery kids could attend breakfast and afterschool. That was the dealbreaker for us as the wrap around wasnt available to under 5s (including reception under 5s).

As long as admissions criteria mean he is pretty much guaranteed a place (I.e. you are near enough and there is sibling priority) then you can just dress it up as a special year at the school his sibling goes to. It might make the transition to reception easier so you are effectively making the move now rather than in a year or two. One of mine though despised the school nursery so it was a bit nervewracking over the summer but was absolutely fine going into reception

I think it depends on the nursery. We haven’t moved sibling because the nursery attached to older child’s school is not good in my opinion. However, it if was it would make my mornings much easier.

God yes move them

We would have considered this, however school nursery wasn’t a full day, it was mornings OR afternoons, and no wraparound.

It wasn’t worth it for 2.5 hours a day ‘free’. Much better to stay in private nursery with 30hours termite funded hours.

If it means he will also start reception with some of his nursery buddies, then 100% do it. It will make that transition easier too as well as making your life logistically easier.

Depends if the school nursery is open all year, i'm assuming the private nursery runs all year.

I had the same question recently, and I decided to keep my youngest in private nursery because they reopened last June and stayed open during the winter lockdown.... whereas the school nursery was only open for keyworkers.

My youngest has one year left, I've decided to keep her there in case of any future disruptions or closures, in the hope that nurseries are allowed to remain open.

My friend did a mixture, so technically had her DD in the school nursery for 2.5 days but as a FT working Mum her DD was in for just 2 of those days, the other 3 days she remained at the other nursery.

The other nursery was next to her workplace but she wanted her to make friends in the school nursery and get used to being taken there as her older sister was in the school.

Yes, I did this with my youngest, as I would have to drive in 2 different directions otherwise. She was happy to move and be "next door" to her brother.

It would be holiday childcare that would swing it for me. Unless you’re in a fortunate position to not need holiday clubs, it will be much harder to find provision for a 3 year old than a 5 year old. I found this was even an issue with a summer born reception child (ie fewer options until she hits 5).

Also does wraparound definitely take the nursery children? Not all do. Also I’d say one all day setting is likely to be better for a child of 3 than nursery plus wrap-around. A lot of children find it quite hard going in reception.

One drop-off would be a big advantage if you can make the logistics work but if you’re really needing a full day of care I’d be tempted to stay with the private nursery rather than school nursery plus wrap-around plus possibly holiday clubs etc.

I’d also say it took my 4yo quite a long time to get used to wrap-around and the bigger kids. Quite a high level of independence was expected as well. I’m not sure how well she’d have managed with that at 3.eg morning club has been playing sport with a mixed age range and there have been times she’s just turned up and not fancied it so has helped the teacher instead. She then has to remember to take all of her stuff to the classroom. They don’t nag or help them with the toilet etc. There just isn’t the level of care that i think she’d have needed at 3 and she is a very independent child.

Lots of food for thought thanks. If we can get him a place then sounds like it’s worth doing so hopefully I’ll hear back from them next week.

They do before and after school clubs so he would be with his older brother in these.

Good point about future lockdowns (hopefully won’t happen but worth preparing) and that holiday clubs don’t always cater for the younger ones. That could be a dealbreaker as we
Pay for the private nursery all year round and I work 4 days a week and dp works away a lot so it’s all on me though we do now have family nearby if needed.

A shame as I love the nursery they’re at now but the youngest joins the eldest in his room in a few weeks so they will spend the next four months together - another reason to keep them as close as possible I think.

Oh and the amount of help given to the younger ones is so important so I’m hoping I can speak to someone about how much support they give them. They’re used to being pandered to at current nursery and every whim met (same as at home ha!) so it might be a shock but youngest is definitely more with it than the eldest other than the fact he’s not potty trained yet but we can nail that down before September I hope.

How old is your youngest and when are they due to start school?

I would move the youngest. I moved my youngest to the school nursery 2 days a week (and I finished work for school pick up those days) and normal nursery 3 days a week (with a full day). It meant he started reception knowing most of the children and they even moved a nursery teacher over to reception with them.

He settled into school nursery no problem at all.

He’d done a different private nursery before that too, so 3 nurseries in total, wasn’t a problem.