Private nursery vs pre school - what's the difference/what's best?

[DarkGreen]

I dont understand what the difference is between a private stand alone nursery and a pre school that's part of a primary school? The private nursery is £10 more expensive and I cant see why? The one attached to the primary school isn't the primary school he will be going to.

My child is nearly 3 and will be joining just after he turns 3.

Is one better than the other?

Thanks

Pre school will be term time only whereas private nursery will be open all year round

The private nursery probably offers longer hours than the pre school?

Ask how many children typically go to the school from the private nursery. Pick the one that has most kids going to the school because it will really help transition.

The difference is that one is a private business (hence the ten pounds extra) and one isn't.

The pre school will likely be school hours and term time only. The private nursery will not.

The only way to choose is to visit both and go with the one where the staff were kind, loving and caring. The staff are the biggest factor to getting it right in my opinion.

As above, the hours are different so when I was working I had no other choice but big private nursery like lots of people.
However on my experience, and this is just mine only! I found the preschool much better than the nursery. It was so expensive (and posey, all the premier league footballers in the area sent their kids there) but when I picked him up they did the same stuff everyday 'montessori' stuff that I do at home anyway so when I stopped work and had second baby I moved him to local preschool and it was the best thing ever. He was older by then too (3) and it has prepared him for school brilliantly, he brought lovely projects home and learnt how to sit eat lunch and snack time and so on that will really reflect school structure. It was just more 'traditional' in all the best ways. This is probably very specific to our particular places but I didn't know the difference until we changed him so thought I would share!

You need to find out the details of the actual nurseries because they aren't all the same and one type isn't better than another They are different and will suit different children and different fanilies. I don't know if visits are allowed to nurseries atm, if they are that's what you must do to decide which one is better for you.

Generally speaking, school preschool is only open term time and usually school hours (9-3). Most private nurseries offer full day (and half day), so are open something like 8-5 or 8-6 and are usually but not always open all year. But obviously they're all different, so I would check specifically what each offers. One also might just be better than the other.

Around here the school preschools are a bit rubbish, quite run down, not fit for purpose facilities, small with not much outdoor space. We use a private nursery. It's a much bigger space, huge garden, offers a lot more, I think because they aren't so constrained by what space they have available at the school. Also have a lot more freedom to do their own thing rather than be governed by the school.

Preschools are just private nursery who cater for a particular age/hours. School nursery is very different and prepares them for school.

I live in a very non-diverse part of the country and in our area you get a different demographic of families using preschool and nurseries. Sounds awful but it’s true. My DS attends nursery because preschool hours did not fit in with my working hours, but I’m very aware that means he’s almost exclusively mixing with middle class children. I can’t think how else to say that without sounding like a knob, sorry. I would send DS to a mix of preschool and nursery if it was practical so he gets a mix of both. I may try to do that before he starts school next year.