Help me to understand school system

[Ima90sbaby]

My DS (20 months) is currently going to a childminders once a week and has been for the past year.
I did put him on the waiting list last week for our local nursery for the September after he turns 3 next year, as I didn't know how long you need to have them "signed up" for nursery.
But what I would like to know is...
What is the actual school system, for example.. is it nursery, infants, reception, primary, secondary?
Does he really need to go to nursery or could I keep him with the childminder until infants/primary?
Could I have both nursery and childminder at the same time?
I know he will get 15 hours free when he turns 3 but when will he get the full 30 hours?

I'm just finding this all abit confusing to be honest 🤦🏼‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️

So in terms of school phases it might vary by local area. Where my kids go to school, (West Midlands) we have compulsory schooling as follows:

• reception and primary school all in one school, they go from reception year, age 4, until year six, which is age 11 or so.
• Secondary school is from year 7 until 16 or 18 years old.
• If kids want to leave at 16 after GCSEs, they can go to college, or an apprenticeship or other post 16 options.

Most children start compulsory schooling in the September after they turn 4 years old. Prior to this, some children go to nurseries attached to their local primary school. Nurseries attached to schools are not compulsory, will still charge some sort of fee, and don't guarantee that your child will get a place in reception at that school. You still have to put in a school place application for your child in the normal way.

Before they reach compulsory school age (which is 5 years old), you can do what you like with your kids in terms of childcare and early years education. Private or school nursery, childminder, keep them home, grandparents/other family members, or a mix of all of these, whatever suits you. If they qualify, from the beginning of the school term after they turn 3, they will be entitled to access 30 hours funded childcare which can be used with an approved childcare provider. This is 30 hours a week term time only, or some nurseries will pro rata it across the full year. Ours does this so we get about 22 hours a week and pay a top up for the remaining hours she attends.

Depending on the settings and what they offer, you might also be able to split the 30 hours between two providers, eg a nursery and a childminder. You may also be able to access tax free childcare to pay for any additional costs, you can use this alongside the 30 hours.

Google '30 hours childcare', and 'tax free childcare' to find out your entitlement. For the 30 hours I think you need to be working, as does your partner, you also need to be earning below £100k. I would check this though, as there may be other rules. You will need to apply for a code for the 30 hours, and set up an account for the tax free childcare.

Hpoe this is helpful, I have a 5 year old in reception and a 3 year old in nursery, so very recent experience!

@katmarie wow thank you for your very helpful reply! :)
I kind of get it abit more now.
Me and my husband both work but wages don't equal £100k, so would that mean he would get the full 30 hours straightaway when he turns 3? Well, in the September afterwards, lol.

With my DS being at the childminders since about 7 months old, I kind of still want to use her until its not possible (he's in full time school). I would feel horrible like just dropping her lol.

30h are term after they turn 3 so depends on when there birthday is.

some areas have infant school (reception- end of year 2) and junior school (year 3-6) rather than primary (reception-year 6)

some primary or infant schools have nursery classes too - often don’t charge extras for 30h which is worth considering!

mine stayed at childminders and then went to a preschool for 30h then went to primary for reception as none of the primary schools near us had nursery classes. The pre school was on same site though so helped for transition!

The childminder may accept the free hours or they may not. Its up to them. In addition they can "stretch" the funding so that you get 22?hours all year round instead of the term time only 30 hrs.

You apply for Primary school around November to January for them to start in the September. To the council, you get 3-5choices. Places are awarded by how well you meet the criteria. Usually Looked After children, Siblings, distance... but some areas have fixed catchments that can come into play. Or the added fun of Church schools.

Which country are you in? England and Scotland have different numbering systems for school years and different start and end dates for the school year.

For my older daughter her childminder was willing to do the 30 free hours (with extra for "consumables" as what the government pays childcare providers the hours isn't enough). She was also willing to share them with another provider. We sent her to a pre-school (the year before school; it was part of a school but not the one she ended up going to) some days and childminder others. I was glad she still got days with her childminder right up to school age as the individual attention she got was great for her development. However she still got used to a more school like environment at pre-school.

With my second daughter her childminder doesn't offer the 30 free hours - a lot don't . As we need the 30 hours she will leave her childminder and move to a pre-school that offers the 30 hours the term after she turns 3.

@Dontsparethehorses my DS turns 3 in June so he should start in the September after? Ahhh thank you for clarifying the infants/primary schools for me. What would the extra charges be for? Is there a difference between nursery and preschool?

@PuttingDownRoots I think my childminder does accept the free hours, I didn't know whether it would have been worth having the 15 hours over so many days at nursery and keep the childminder for one day a week. He usually goes to the childminder 9.30-4.30 once a week atm. Ahh okay so I would have to look at applying for primary November-January 24/25?

@MrsMoastyToasty I'm in England.

@AegonT yes that's the reason why I'm wanting to keep him with childminder for as long as possible, he is so bright for his age and I think that's the reason why. But also want an easy transition into school.

He turns 3 in June 2024 I should have said.

Some nurseries charge basically because the amount the government pays for the free hours doesn’t cover their hourly rate. There isn’t any real difference between nursery and preschool. Some day nurseries call there oldest room preschool, some that only take 2/3/4 year olds call themselves preschool not nursery. Just something to look at locally to you/ ask mums with same age children

It's worth looking at what primary school your DC is likely to go to and then what feeder nurseries there are (if any). That way your DC can get to know some of the children they will go to school with.

This probably only works in some areas - we have a village primary school that you can generally guarantee a place in and then about 3 nurseries that feed in. One of those is on the same site as the primary school, so is seen as the obvious place for continuity. It probably doesn't work in cities as many nurseries feed many primary schools.