When does my ds start nursery/school? AND HOW?

[mumfor1sttime]

Hi, sorry if this has been talked about before, did search. Have ds of 6 months, are there long waiting lists for nursery/kindergarten etc and what age do they start? Also how do you go about it? Am confused! I know he is so young- but have heard horror stories of long waiting lists!! Any advise welcome!

In my area you register interest for schools any time. Ds starts next year and I put his name down a couple of months ago. When it nears the time of him starting school the schools send out a letter asking you to go to open days and then you make your choice.

I know that it differs area to area, so it could be worth ringing around your local schools.

For nursery - it depends when you want him to start. I wanted ds to start when he was 2 and a half - but left it too late and had trouble getting him in! It might be worth having a think when you might want him to start nursey and then ring around and ask how long their waiting lists are.

here is a link to to Ofsted very usful site

Thanks a lot!

It depends what you mean by nursery.

They can go to pre-school from 2.5. The popular ones have waiting lists, our local one has a 2 year waiting list but some don't. You have to pay for this until the term after they turn 3 when you get 5 2.5 hour sessions a week free.

Private nurseries again depend on the area/popularity.

State nurseries either standalone ones or attached to a school usually start from age 3. Here it is the Sept after they turn 3 though in some areas it is the term after. Where I live you put their names down and they offer a place according to their waiting list. In the neighbouring LEA you have a form to fill in that has to be in by a certain date and they allocate places a bit like schools with catchment areas etc.

Thanks julief, guess I mean a state nursery or playgroup type thing that you pay for. I really have no idea how the sytem works! I am 28 and all I know is that my little sis went to playgroup at 3 then school at 4.5-5!! As did I.