Moving to Edinburgh with a very nearly 4-year old; how does the Education System work?

[CatoBee]

My husband and I are possibly moving to Edinburgh in June, with our son who will be 4 in August.

At the moment, DS doesn't go to a formal nursery, he stays with my sister when my husband and I are at work, though my sister is a primary school teacher. From what I understand, he would have a free part time place, but I'm not sure if it applies to us, given the fact that he's not a British citizen, and we would only have lived there a couple of months when the term started. I'm also wondering what the arrangements are for the rest of the time he's there, and how much is actually free? Both my husband and I will be working, so we will need him to be in nursery most of the day. I'm also slightly worried about the fact that DS's spoken English probably isn't as good as other 4 year olds, and he has an accent, though he understands everything, and I worry that it will hinder him in making friends.

Hi there

He would be entitled to a free part time place which is 3 hrs 10 mins a day if using a council nursery class or school or the deductions would be made if you choose to use a private nursery.

Some places offer wraparound care. I personally used a childminder for before and after school while I worked. Some private nurseries will do school runs to school nurseries too.

I work in nursery and often find children pick up English very quickly and tend to be more fluent than they get credit for.