Would you do this or do you think it would be too disruptive?

[ZebraLeg]

Apologies for the stupid questioning but I tend to be rather overly nervous of DD's feelings (and DH is so laid back he's therefore horizontal and useless )

DD is 2.6 and currently goes to playgroup in the next village two mornings a week. I had intended on keeping her there until she was eligible for the school nursery down the road from the playgroup, then to the school (school A) after that. That way she would be going up to the next stage with kids she knows and hopefully wouldn't find the transition too hard.

Last week the playgroup did a visit to the school nursery, and asked for parents to volunteer to escort the kids there as it's about a five minute walk. So I went, partly to be helpful and partly to see what the nursery was like. Unfortunately I was really disappointed in the nursery. There were a few issues that didn't sit well with me and I'm not sure how confident I am about sending DD there. However the school that it's attached too (schoo, A) is rated 'good' by ofsted, has very positive reviews by parents, and feeds into and 'outstanding' seconday (so she would get automatic priority for the secondary)

Sooo... What I've done is look at my more local school nursery. The nursery nurses seemed really nice, warm, welcoming, and the place is rated as 'outstanding' by OFSTED. They are also very flexible about how I would like to use DD's early years entitlement, and also provide lunch for free. However the Primary school that it feeds into (school B) isn't nearly as good as the first one. It's ok, not terrible, but primary teacher friends have strongly advised school A over school B as theirs a few issues with bullying and disruptiveness in the older years at school B.

So what I was thinking of doing was letting DD stay at playgroup until January when she recieves her early years funding, then putting her in nursery B, then when it comes to applying for schools, applying for school A.

Does that make sense? She has a reasonable chance at getting into both nurseries and both schools, we live close to both and it's not a hugely over populated area. But I worry that this involves a lot of change for her. DH thinks that it wont be a problem, as she'll have almost two years at the nursery before she goes to school, and she'll be almost five when she starts school.

Does this sound like too much change for such a small child, being in playgroup, then having to make new friends at nursery, then going to school where admittedly their will be some kids from playgroup but she may not remember them and they will obviously have firmer friendships established between themselves as they've all been to the nursery that DD hasn't.

Or am I overthinking this?

Thank you for getting this far! Any thoughts would be really appreciated!

Why can't she just stay in pre-school and move to school A in due course?

Five her fair warning of each change/move and she'll be fine kids are very resilient.

Dd went to pre-school, started misery then we moved so she changed nursery, then went to school. She has always been a very shy little girl but she adapted well. Send her where ever you like :)

NickNacks Yes that's certainly an option, but all the local kids seem to go to the nursery after their third birthday, so she if she was to stay in playgroup she may well end up being an almost five year old amongst mostly two year olds, which isn't ideal.

Stacey Thank you for the reassurance, especially as my DD can be a bit shy like yours!

Thank you both for your replies!

I think I would check whether either of the primaries are over subscribed and if so what the LA's oversubscription rules are. Few LAs use feeder nursery as an over subscription criteria unless it is that school's nursery. I'm saying this as in this area all primaries are over subscribed and criteria for primary and secondary are sen then siblings, them address and siblings then address. So even if I got my dd into a nursery/ primary they wouldn't help me get the next school up despite being feeders.

If they are not over subscribed or you meet the over subscription criteria anyway then I'd put her wherever she's most likely to get into the better school.

Hope that makes sense and isn't a massive ramble!

I agree with PineappleBed about checking your local LEA guidelines.

Our local LEA priority is kids in care, then exception medical needs, then siblings, then distance.

But the LEA bordering ours prioritises kids in school nurseries if there's oversubcription - so a child in School A's nursery who lives a few miles away gets higher priority than a child who lives next door to the school but isn't in the nursery.

Thank you for the replies PineappleBed and darkfever

Sorry I didn't explain it very well! You're both absolutely right, attendance at the nursery has no bearing on primary admissions. What I meant to say was DD would come under the distance rule. Having had a look at how the admissions have worked in the past few years, about half to two thirds of kids admitted have come under the distance rule. They've published the distance that the furyhest away child has been admitted and we live much much closer, so hopefully, even if it's a large applications year, we should get a place IYSWIM?

furthest

Ah! Then plump for the one which gives you the best odds for the better school.

My twins went to a private pre-school/nursery and NONE of their little friends went to the local primary school with them. Some of the kids at their school (they're nearly at the end of Yr R now) already knew each other from going to a different local nursery but it doesn't seem to have mattered at all - over the year they've all got to know each other and I've certainly never felt that my two were being left out or disadvantaged at all, no "cliques" as far as I can tell. Perhaps easier having twins because I knew that at least they'd have each other!