DS and DD currently attend the same nursery, 10 minutes drive from our village. It’s in the same direction as my former job which worked really well for drop offs on the way. I’n just about to start a new job and can still drive this way although it’s not quite so directly ‘on the way’. Currently both children do 3 days pw and DH and I do a childcare day each in the week. DH is self employed. The nursery has a lovely outdoors areas, brilliant staff, long opening hours (8-6), doesn’t close for school holidays, and I can’t fault it. The Ofsted rating is Good with Outstanding features.
DS will be starting school at the nearest village primary in September. It’s a 5 minute drive from home, in the opposite direction of the nursery. DH will be doing school runs.
I can’t decide whether to keep DD in the lovely nursery where she is now from September. It’s more expensive than a more local preschool would be and once DS is at school full time we won’t need the long hours or holidays.
Would you:
a) keep DD at lovely nursery, change her to shorter days (9.30-4.30 would be the option), and increase her to 4 days per week. Her 30 hours funding would cover three days as it’s spread over the 51 weeks that the nursery is open. DH would have to drop her off after doing DS drop off. DH could then work 5 days per week (I could still do childcare one day) but would be doing shorter days. He’d get home about 9.45, and would have to head back out to pick up DS at 3.
b) move DD to a more local preschool. There is one 5 minutes from the school that she could attend 9-3 5 days per week. She would be more likely to meet children she would go to school with at this nursery. Her 30 hours funding would cover this pretty much entirely but we would have no holiday cover and would likely have to juggle the holidays between us rather than looking at playschemes for DS only. DH could work 9.15ish-2.45ish.
c) Keep DD at nursery three days PW. Pay the extra for breakfast club so I can do drop offs on the way to work. Use a combination of me/DH/grandparent childcare to cover the other two days.
On paper I feel like local preschool is a no-brainer. But I love the nursery and can’t imagine anywhere being as good.