Benefits of pre school / school nursery?

[lataraw]

Does a pre school (like at a private school) or a school nursery (government school) offer any educational advantage over staying in a nursery?

Have no idea apart from the benefits for my own child. My child went to a nursery at a local private school. The nursery my child was at before wasn’t great. They just had free play most of the day and it felt like the staff were just there to keep my kid safe and fed, nothing less and nothing more. When we changed over, it was amazing. They had literacy and numeracy daily, ballet, yoga, forest school, art, drama, specialist music and French teachers. It was like mini school and my child thrived and was extremely happy. The staff were not NVQ qualified but PGCE qualified teachers with TA’s to assist.

Same as above. I felt a childcare nursery was about keeping my DC occupied, but not necessarily focused on development.
The private term time nursery they then went to had lots of outdoor space, free play but with lots of stimulating activities structured around learning without them knowing. They thrived there and even as teens talk about how much they enjoyed it.

Amazing thanks for sharing. We both work full time so not sure how we'd manage it - I guess people get a nanny for the after school hours / holidays?

You do what most parents do and tag team annual leave. So combined you should get around 9-10 weens per year. You then simply split that + holiday clubs and relatives if possible

@twistyizzy - don't think most holiday clubs take toddlers?

I would say it depends very much on the private nursery. Ours is 8-6, 50 weeks a year, but otherwise is very much like @fiorentina describes, great outdoor space, lots of stimulating activities structured to bring on their learning through play. They do forest school, grow fruit and veg (including things like measuring and plotting the growth of the broad beans), woodworking (with real tools), yoga, etc. DD1 is at school now, but I'm in no way tempted to move DD2.

Local preschool meant dc had some friends to start school with. I already worked some short days so pickup was not an issue and the private nursery took them back in the school holidays.

Some private nurseries will run clubs. Not all.
Toddler years are tough if you both work full time.

Yes that's why I'm trying to work out how a private school nursery would work / what the benefits are!

Depends on the nursery! Mine were both in private nursery full time and stayed there until they went to school as we couldn't manage the term time only hours.

It prepared them brilliantly for school, and we have no regrets.

The only way you will know is if you speak to local providers as they all differ so widely

I think it depends upon your views on child development and education and your child.

There's a lot of research that backs up just letting children play and countries such as Finland don't start formal school until 7. Free play is very good for small children and shouldn't be dismissed out of hand.

The purpose of childcare nurseries is to provide childcare, not formal education. It's only since nurseries and pre-schools came under OFSTED that the focus has shifted towards them being educational rather than care providers.

I think if you're both working full time a nursery is the best place for your child. Most will start some form of educational input from 3.5 onwards - eg, literacy, classroom experience.

At the end of the day it's all about choices - I only worked part time when DD was small so could take her to ballet, swimming etc. If you're working full time, obviously that's more difficult unless it's at the weekend. But please don't think your toddler needs exposure to formal education to be a successful, rounded adult.

I think moving to a different pre-school is of particular benefit if your child is an older child in their academic year.

eg. I did not move my summer born out of nursery before school but I will consider it for my November baby. We’ll already be dealing with school term by then anyway.

Honestly I think it depends much more on the specific setting than what umbrella they fall under. In theory they all fall under the same early years curriculum expectations, but in practice what they actually provide varies wildly.

We previously used a private nursery which had a brilliant preschool room - all the benefits (and expense!) of a full time nursery, but a really good early years curriculum. Now using a preschool, which is not linked to a specific school. Has the limits of term time provision, but a great setting, and vastly cheaper.

A lot of school based preschools (not all of them) have much more school-like expectations. Uniform, no nappies allowed, expected to follow a more rigid timetable. Wouldn’t have worked for either of mine, in my opinion the expectations can be far too high for the age group.

I went for the private nursery as it was open 51 weeks 8-6 should I want it. And I was of the opinion to let them be young children playing, not in educational routines, at that age. Reception teaches from scratch and they still pick things up at the private nursery even if it isn't lesson-based, they did loads of themes and experiments and crafts.

About 10/60 children in the reception year went to this private nursery, 30/60 to the school nursery and 20/60 to something else / nothing.

The school was 9-3 with no wraparound, that wouldn't have worked for me, DS would have ended up moving between centres with less attachment and connections

Our school nursery does offer wraparound and holiday club (only open 45 weeks of the year though). There are also a couple of childminders who pick up from the school and do holidays.

Our previous private nursery had qualified teachers, smaller ratios, a bigger outside place, but somehow achieved a lot less with the children. It was childcare not education. They will all be different- we were at a fairly rubbish private nursery I guess.

Have you looked around? That should give you a feel for if the move and hassle is worth it?

I actively avoided it but I had spring and summer babies and wanted high ratios. I’d have been tempted though if I didn’t need childcare or had an autumn born child doing an extra year of nursery. It tends to be easier (but not guaranteed) to get a 4yo pre schooler into holiday childcare compared to a 3yo.

I’d also say putting a very young child into holiday camp is a bit of a shock to the system. My eldest ended up in a camp at just turned 4 due to it being the only provision open during Covid (her nursery didn’t open until the September). She had to grow up very quickly so school transition was incredibly easy but I wouldn’t ideally have a 3/4 year old in multiple settings.It meant it didn’t cross my mind at all for my youngest- continuity and relationships with loving care givers were my priorities - not education.

I think primarily you need to ensure the childcare element works - if you need 8-6 childcare then a 9-3 setting 39 weeks of the year (or probably less if a private school) is going to be a logistical nightmare however much you like the idea.

Yes we juggled between ourselves, a nanny and grandparent help around nursery as it was term time online and 9-3pm. Our DC didn’t go full time 3-4 days per week and we already had a part time nanny.

Pros and cons.

Biggest pro is if it is attached to the school they are going to and so they can make lots of friends before they start.

The other advantage is that they will be taught / cared for by a qualified teacher rather than a carer.

The downside is that the ratios will be much worse. It may have changed in the last 8(!) year but when mine were little a teacher and a TA could have a class of 26. Whilst two qualified carers could only have 16.

In school nursery the teacher will be about teaching. In private nursery it will be about caring. Although there is a huge amount of overlap between the two as they both have to follow the curriculum,

If you want a setting that will really push phonics then go for a pre school. If you want a setting with an adult who will happily and unselfconsciously where an Elsa headband and dance with the kids singing “Let it go!” At the top of their voice then go with a private nursery.

We saw benefit of both and did a mix of both for both children.

I’m not sure the benefit of pre school is enough to cause yourself a logistical nightmare though. Phonics can easily be done with kids at home.

Private nursery worked brilliantly for my two and they definitely offered education and development. My kids came out completely ready for school and with the foundations of literacy and numeracy solidly in place.

We kept DD in private nursery (3 days per week) until she started Reception, as the school nursery only offered mornings or afternoons at that stage. It was quite a big private nursery though, and they had two preschool rooms and really worked on the transition skills and did a little bit of 'classroom' stuff like Letter of the Day.

It's more important that a child will follow instructions and put their own coat on and find their lunchbox than be able to read though, so I think introducing a bit of 'formality' in terms of rules/routine at the preschool age is a good idea.

That said, my DD's keyworker was working towards a degree in childcare development and really enjoyed working with my DD who had started to learn to read early at home. So DD and her keyworker both benefited from each other in some ways.

DD slotted into Reception very easily, and I'm not aware that the children that had come from the preschool attached to the school were advantaged in any way, other than familiarity with the building / staff / each other.

We use both (pretty standard here). They follow the same curriculum but have different focuses - we see the private daycare nursery as a home substitute, and the preschool as school preparation.

The preschool is very similar to a P1 class, has a uniform and such, they'll do a little phonics and writing work in the final term with the children who are interested.

The preschool is excellent prep for school, in terms of them being used to the classroom environment. We don't save on nursery fees though, she goes to private nursery for wraparound and in holidays, which costs the same as going FT (again, typical here).

Both have their function for us and given we both work I wouldn't be without either. If one of us was a SAHP I'd still want the preschool for that final year.

We did montessori which was wonderful.
Forest school, yoga, dance, cooking, highly qualified staff with a great staff retention rate, smaller class sizes, lovely facilities, direct learning etc.

15 hours funded and then paid about £30 an hour.

Not ideal for working parents as only 9-3, vs most Indie nurseries which offer great wraparound care.

I think it's a good middle man when comparing the 8am-6pm daycares and the Indie nurseries.

It’s a mistake to think there’s no formality to a Scandinavian pre school. Of course some dc read before going to formal school and it’s not just play. It’s very much guided learning through play. Definitely not a free for all. The brightest dc will be stretched because they need to be. Why would anyone hold back a Cambridge type mathematician or a child that can read at 5? You just wouldn’t. Pre school and kindergarten is more child centred than we manage.

Our private nursery has a separate pre school and teaches the same as what they learn at the school based pre school. Tjere is a set curriculum, learn numbers to 20 start phonics etc. Not much difference I can see from talking to mums from school pre schools apart from they don't ask them to wear a uniform 😁