Mixed baby room with 2-3 year olds Nursery

[Iammeltin]

I have an elder child who goes to private school. I also have a 6 month old.
The school my child goes to is opening up a nursery from 0-3 years old.
I thought great!! one drop off.

I initially got told there would be 13 children altogether.

its quite a small space - think a summer house or large garden office.

They are going to partition it with gates to separate the 0-2 years from the 2-3 years

However I’ve now been told they may take up to 23 children.

It doesn’t open until August.

Im not sure where the kids will sleep as the sleeping pattern of a 1 year old is different for a 2 year old.

It’s a private school and the headteacher is lovely and I’m sure he’ll do everything to make it work. Initially I was happy to send my child with there only being 13 children but if they decide to hold up to 23 children, I’m not sure how it would work?

Do I still put my name down for December start? Or do I look elsewhere for an already established setting.
I love the teachers at the school so I know I could trust them to look after my child, it’s just the setting looks tiny. The pre-school section is big and looks amazing.
Just feel abit deflated by the size of the nursery and the amount of children they want to enrol.

If you have specific concerns about where they will sleep, for example, then ask them.

If you have concerns about the amount of children in the space - there are strict regulations which you can Google.

The school won't be using teachers for their 0 - 5 provision. They will employ Nursery staff. Lots of Private schools have childcare on the premises but it won't be run by the teaching staff.

Put your name down. You can always back out if it doesn't work for you, and as your child won't go in until December, you're lucky that you can potentially see the setting in action after it opens in August.

The teachers won't be interacting with your child. They'll employ nursery staff, so ask about ratios. 23 children is too many for a room the size you mention, so it may be they have another space in mind, and that they intend to split age groups up differently.

I can’t say anything specific to this nursery, but both of mine went to a nursery that was mixed babies up to 5 years. It was great.

They did have a separate ‘baby room’ where they took the babies for naps and quiet play (if for whatever reason they couldn’t join in with the older ones). It was really lovely and both of mine got a lot from interacting with the older and younger ones as they went through.

There is absolutely no reason there should be any more safety concerns than you would have at home with children of different ages playing together or, for example, with a childminder who would likely have babies up to older primary age children. Assuming proper ratios and supervision.

That said, I wouldn’t expect 23 children crammed into a large shed. Our nursery had a main room that was sort of the size of a school classroom, plus toilets, kitchen, baby room, storage, office space, and about 2 acres of secure grounds for outdoor play. For max about 25 children. I would assume that space might be used for bag storage and maybe sleeping, but surely they will be outside and using the wider facilities of the school, not all stuck in a shed. I would be clarifying the facilities and how they are going to use them.

23 is still quite a small number. Our school nursery didn’t take under 2s but there were 15 2-3YOs and 20ish 3-4YOs. The lack of space is a concern, maybe they’re rethinking that if they’re taking more kids than originally planned e.g. our nursery expanded and took over an old reception classroom. They’ll also I’m guessing maybe move the older ones around the school more to access specialist lessons. Just ask them and whilst you’re at it ask about sleep space too. Generally 1-3YOs will all have 1 nap after lunch so it’s only the babies that that won’t work for, but maybe they’re thinking they’re unlikely to have any under 1s because a lot of people take a year off now so babies in nursery are often a rarity and IME you find that the ‘baby room’ is actually all young toddlers. Hopefully it can all be clarified because 1 drop off is the dream!!