Good Nurseries/preschools in Cambuslang

[thisredhead]

I have just found out that my husband is being transferred to Glasgow from London. We have just under two months to find a place to live and register my DD in preschool (she is 3 1/2). I am starting to worry that I will not be able to get her a place. Does anyone know when registration for Preschool start in Scotland? Does anyone recommend any preschools in Cambuslang? What about nurseries for my 13 month old?
Thanks.

When is her birthday? Cut-off dates are different in Scotland.

At 3.5, she will already be eligible for nursery, but you may need to wait until Janaury until she gets a place at a state one (which would be mornings or afternoons) or you have to a wee bit further afield.

If her birthday is March or later, she will start school next August, in Primary 1. We don't have "Reception" here.

Can't help with advice on nurseries (tend not to call them pre-school up here) in Cambuslang. Have a look at the HMIE reports to get a feel for the nurseries/schools in the area you are moving to. Her Majesty's Inspetorate of Education is the equivalent of Ofsted. Nurseries tend to be inspected by the Care Commission although, like England, it is all getting more integrated.

Oops - got that wrong - if her birthday is January or February, she could start next August if you wanted her to, or you could defer her until the following year (when she woulld start with the following year's P1). If her birthday is after March, she will start in P1 in 2014 and have had one and half years in nursery.

Thanks. Her birthday is in April, so I guess she has a bit of time until she starts primary 1.

I did learn about the HMIE, but not being completely sure we are moving to Cambuslang (it all depends on if the schools are decent there), the reports are daunting at best. I was hoping for a summary Excel spreadsheet that I could then read reports on the ones that appealed to me. Alas, no such luck. This is one of my reasons for my post here. That and not knowing much about the process in Scotland other than it is different from London.

Any further information you could share would be great. I have read quite a bit of information on other areas, but not Cambuslang. I cannot seem to find much on it.

Ugh.

Catchments are fixed here unlike in England. The Catholic schools are also "state" schools with a defined catchment. Your secondary school is determined by which primary school you go to. If you want to go to a different secondary school, you have to put in a placing request.

If you want to go to a different primary school, you enrol there but put in a placing request (I presume you could put in more than one if you really wanted) to the school(s) you want to go to. I think you can send the placing requests direct in to the education department.

I had a couple of colleagues who lived in Cambuslang/Uddingston and/or whose kids went to school in Cambuslang. Iirc, one of their wives was a teacher there too. I know they were very happy with their kids' education. There was also a new school being built (or it might have been the existing school doubled in size). Unfortunately I'm not in contact with them any more, so can't check which school it was.

I also wouldn't worry too much about "deadlines" for getting your dd into pre-school. There aren't any per se. When you move up, you can see of the local state nursery has space. If not, there should be space the following term and in the mean time you can get your "free" (or subsidised) 12.5 hours at a private nursery.

This is all very reassuring information. Thank you. I wrote the council and they were not very helpful. Just seemed annoyed that I was inquiring and that I was coming from an English standpoint.

You have gone above and beyond, Prettybird. You have taken a load off of my mind.

Happy to help. It's thanks to MN that I now understand a bit the differences between the Scottish and English systems. It took me aaaaaaages to grasp that in most of England it's not possible to properly defer starting at primary school - only to miss Reception which seems crazy.