Nursery vs Pre-school

[elephanto]

Can anyone tell me their experiences of sending their child to nursery and/or pre-school? Positive and negative please!!

I've got the option of sending my little one to the local nursery that is attached to a good primary school or keeping him where he is currently and soon he will move into the pre-school room.

I'd love to hear opinions and experiences to help me make my decision...

Thanks

The physical building that your child attends pre school in is not that important. It could be either nursery or pre school attached to primary school.

What is important is that the pre school room at the nursery and the pre school attached to the primary school is led by a fully qualified Early Years Teacher.

Ask your nursery or pre school about the qualifications of the staff who will be looking after/ teaching your child. You need to ensure that the person leading The EYFS holds EYT/EYP or QTS status. Those that do are graduates qualified to teach early years. Be mindful though that some nurseries call their level 2 and 3 nursery nurses teachers, this is not the same thing.

The environment and planned activities indoors and outdoors should be engaging and challenging to facilitie early learning. Look for staff who are motivated and can talk you through their planning, activities and the learning and development requirements of The EYFS.

Regardless of pre school attached to a school, pre school in a nursery, community play group or childminder all are mandated and required to follow the same EYFS curriculum.

Teacher led provision provides better learning outcomes for children later on and helps narrow gaps in learning.

Don't worry about the names - they are interchangeable.

If there is a qualified teacher present, then the ratios are 1:13. If there isn't (most likely at a PVI) then the ratios for the same age group will be 1:8

Generally speaking (and there WILL be exceptions) school Nurseries can't offer the same hours as PVIs, and - when you are working - it is much simpler to have your child in one place, rather than having to find wrap around care for the Nursery hours.

After that, it really comes down to the individual settings.
I@ve ben in quite a few pre-schools set on school premises where space is shared, and they have set hours to use the outside space. That said, I'e also been in PVIs where the outdoor space is less than ideal.

If it is the school they are likely to go to, it can be a gentle transition to being in the building- they will gradually introduce them to the concept of a multi purpose school hall, for example.

Thank you both!! This is so helpful!!

The adults in the pre-school room are referred to as teachers but I found out recently have level 3 qualifications not teaching degrees which made me feel a bit cheated to be honest (and stupid for not doing more research initially).

I was also a bit concerned about their approach to phonics which seems to be being taught very early and incorrectly (I'm a qualified teacher so have some understanding).

The school based nursery I'm looking at does long days luckily!!

Also remember, attending the setting attached to the school doesn't guarantee you a place at the school.

If you are unhappy with your current setting anyway, then have a look at the other one. There are many settings that have one Early Years Teacher, supported by other Early Years Educators, who are level 3.