Can’t start nursery at Easter?

[CosmicComet]

Started looking at nurseries for my DS because I want to put him on the waiting list for when he turns 3 and gets free hours. But I’ve been told I can’t, because he was born in January.

The kids who turned 3 over the summer are eligible to start nursery in September. Then the kids who turn 3 before Xmas are eligible to start in January. And finally those who turn 3 in the Spring are eligible to start after Easter.

Basically the local nursery has spaces in September because that’s when kids leave to go to school. So the September starters take some places, and if there are places left the January starters take them. And there are no places left for Easter starters. So the nursery said there’s no point putting my DS on the waiting list because there’ll be no places left by the time he’s eligible to start.

AIBU to think this is unreasonable? Their only advice was to “choose a crapper nursery because they’re more likely to still have places left at Easter. Try X nursery in the next town because Ofsted has rated it as Poor”. Why should my DS have to go to a nursery rated Poor just because of when his birthday falls?!

My son's nursery does have pre-school places

From what I understand a preschool is different to a nursery? We don’t have any preschools around here. Just paid nurseries that accept children from birth.

Your husband is earning too much for you to claim tax credits, so is he earning enough for you to go back to work now

We possibly could stretch to pay for some nursery. But we won’t because we’ll be out of pocket as the nursery cost would exceed what I’d earn.

If your dh earns too much for you to get extra support then presumably that is over 50k. Mine and dhs combined salary is less than 40k and yet we have to pay for full time childcare for ds2 and before after school club for ds1..hardly an advantage

Cosmic - it's the pre-school room in the nursery. He's been there since he was 9 monthsz

I'm sorry this has come as a shock to you, OP, and you need a rant about it. But it's been this way for absolutely ages.

If you think you can run a nursery - logistically, financially - for people who want a place solely for the free government-funded hours that fit with their working patterns, available only for 3-year-olds as soon as they have their third birthday, then great! Plenty of nursery managers would love to know how - you can earn loads in consultancy fees.

If not, then you just have to suck it up like the rest of us!

As it stands, it's not any more unfair than any other system that has to use cut-offs in income brackets, age-ranges etc. I wish I could have one of those lovely government Lifetime ISAs where you get an extra 25% on your savings every year, but I am a few days too old to qualify. Boo hoo. That's life. You have to work with what is available, as you won't get anywhere stewing on the sheer unfairness of it.

If you think you can run a nursery - logistically, financially - for people who want a place solely for the free government-funded hours that fit with their working pattern
That’s what the government and health visitors etc are promising people though. That you’ll get 15 free hours the term after your child turns 3, and they’ll bump that up to 30 hours if you get a part time job. I was relying on it because my wage (in the job I’d be looking to return to) is so low

In fact! If you want a term-time-only job, that fits with your DC's available childcare funding from three, and there are no preschools in your area... big gap in the market, OP. Team up with some other parents, set up a not-for-profit community enterprise...

This is why my friend refused to be induced on 28 August, and clung on (successfully) for a spontaneous September birth.

Well, you will get 15 hours funded the term after your child turns three. But you just won't necessarily get it at the nursery you desire.
It does suck, but it is how all government-run education-based services work.
Same as loads of things, really, if you think about it.
You're annoyed about the realities of it in practise, but what they promote is not strictly untrue.

set up a not-for-profit community enterprise
Wouldn’t you need to be a qualified childcare or nursery professional though?

It's shit that the autumn kids who have a natural advantage over their younger classmates get an extra term or two of nursery. If anything it should be offered in reverse- summer birthdays 5 terms, spring 4 terms, autumn 3 terms but it is government policy.

How many private nurseries/pre-schools/school nurseries/childminders have you spoken to? It sounds like you've only spoken to your most local nursery. It's very common here for spring/summer birthdays to end up having their free hours further away from home to accommodate this. You could go for a nursery close to where you'll be working since there's no distance criteria like school.

I'm involved in a not-for-profit pre-school. It offers max 3.5 hours a day, term-time only. We are currently running at a slight annual loss (but as part of a wider charity keep going to benefit the community) due to the low rates paid by the government - though they did go up substantially in 2017. We only offer Jan places if they've not been taken up earlier or if parents pay half a term's fee for autumn term to keep it open - we used to just keep some open for free, but couldn't afford the loss. We do however offer a handful of April places, as by Easter the children don't generally need quite as much attention as in autumn term when half of them are new to the pre-school. But it does mean we are "over-staffed" in terms of ratios for autumn and spring terms. So you might find a pre-school (or even nursery) near you that does something similar.

So do have a look at whether there definitely aren't pre-schools near you - they tend to be non-profit and based on church halls, scout halls, etc or sometimes in Children's Centres. In my experience, the staff are often more experienced and are focussed purely on that age range so the care / education can be great even if the surroundings aren't so flash. If they only offer half-days (some do full days as well), you could then perhaps combine with a childminder to get a full day's childcare if needed. Or look at a childminder full-time or combine with some time in nursery as childminders generally cheaper.

The other thing though is that I would still say it was worth getting on nursery waiting lists because occasionally places do become free eg if a family moves. So no harm in getting on the list unless there's a substantial deposit required.

Other thing is that nurseries change a lot so one that is rated poor may turn itself around in the next two years and be good by then. So don't discount the poor ones completely. Certainly we've had ones near us go from outstanding to poor and from poor to outstanding.

Yes, someone running it would need a childcare qualification. Wouldn't have to be you, necessarily. But you might get into it...

See the PP's post about their not-for-profit.

I think your first mistake is thinking that you're going to be able to walk straight into a job that exactly suits what you want it to. Look for a job now and if all your salary goes on nursery for a while then you're still no worse off!

This thread is bonkers. Your bug bear is basically that you can’t get the nursery you want because they’re not willing to allocate a place two years in advance. Supply and demand - you can get ‘a’ place - so you’re not being done ‘out of your entitlement’ it’s just not in the place of your choosing. This is barmy!

if all your salary goes on nursery for a while then you're still no worse off!

I don’t understand this. Of course I’m worse off - I’m paying travel costs etc and losing time with my child and I’m not gaining anything.

As PP have said, the whole system is a joke. A vote winning idea that even on a quick examination cannot work. It is decimating the childcare industry which, long term, may actually make it harder for parents to get back to work. That’s before you even start on finding a job that actually fits the hours you are allocated.

Have a look at ‘Champagne nurseries on lemonade funding’. They have a Facebook page which makes depressing reading.

Of course I’m worse off - I’m paying travel costs etc and losing time with my child and I’m not gaining anything

Being a working parent is basically a trade-off of time/money/sanity for a few years. It's not really like working when it's just you to worry about and the trade-off is time spent = money paid back for time spent in your pocket. Has many, many, many long-term benefits, but if you would rather not deal with the hassle in the pre-school years then don't!

Tbh I give up. Life isn't handed to you on a plate I'm afraid. With little ones you pretty much have to take a hit somewhere be it financially, time with your partner or time with your child. You're blowing this out if proportion and don't seem prepared to budge even the slightest bit to achieve a suitable outcome. I feel really annoyed at your stubbornness.

The gain is in the long term. Although everyone works it out for themselves. We thought it was important that at least one of us spent time with them while small so I'm part time at the moment. However, I do want to go full time again for the good of my career. It is likely that will be sooner than our ideal, but I will have to take those hours if they come up.
I still think you seem to be angry with the wrong people. The nurseries have been promoting these issues with the funding for well over the year. Given the time frame you're working on maybe write a letter to your MP?

Yes, please do write to your MP.

@BikeRunSki

But that's worse. If the baby was born on the 28th of August then it would turn 3 on the 28th of August and be eligible for the funded places from the term starting in september.

But if it's born and turns 3 in September then it's not eligible for the funded place until the January term. So by holding off for a few days, she's missing an entire funded term?

Ultimately the only thing you can do about your gripes is to write to your MP. They're the only people that can change things.

Have you looked on your local authority website about nurseries? Some local authorities require people to apply for school attached nurseries through them during specific dates. Other LA (like mine) require people to apply directly to the school (where I live there's only 2 school attached nurseries which are walking distance. If I used any of the private nurseries locally I'd have had to pay for something such as lunch).

I'm sorry to say this but you've made it clear that you don't have a career so will simply be going into a minimum wage job and staying there.

I'd like to think you have a goal of moving up in whichever company it is, even to become a sore manager or something, but if you don't plan to work your way up a career ladder and just plan to stay in a minimum wage job, then just wait till your kid starts primary.

Well you would be gaining something- your kid would be at nursery which is what you said you wanted him to do.
He’d be learning and playing with other kids. You might not have massive financial benefits short term but then you’d have got this elusive part time, term time only job set in place ready for when your kid goes to school and then you’ll see the benefits of extra money.