Standalone vs. Inclusive Nursery schools ? Help!

[NYRobin]

I am moving to London from NY this fall, and have been trying to do research from here.
I am wondering about the pros and cons of enrolling my daughter (currently age 1) in a standalone nursery school (ages 2-5) versus an independent school that goes from ages 3 or 4 through 11. (Sorry, I don't know what the term is - primary school I guess?)

If she goes to a standalone nursery, do I also need to enroll her for independent primary school now, even though she wouldn?t go until age 4 or 5? Also, will it be much harder for her to get a place since most kids will have started at these schools at age 3 or 4?

Is it better from a continuity perspective to go to one school, or will she have access to better resources and attention in a standalone nursery?

Any advice appreciated!
Robin

Most independent ( aka Pre-Prep up to 7, Prep 7-11/13) schools will have an intake at Reception (4) as class sizes will increase. Having said that when dd (whose name was registered at 6 months !) joined Reception only 2 out of her class of 16 were new to the school, the rest had attended the nursery. However few of those had previously been for the full 5 sessions and many had been in different groups within the nursery building so I didn't feel they had a big social advantage. The curriculum for 3-5's (Foundation Stage) is common to all types of preschool/nursery so there should n't be a big variance in standards. tbh until you visit some you won't be able to compare staffing, resources and faciliities.

Whether you send your child to a pre-school, or a nursery attached to a infant/primary school, it will make no difference for when they go to infant school as this has to be applied for separately at a different time anyway. As far as I am aware (and it states on all school websites) preference is not given to children already at the nursery. Like LIZS says, you will be best to wait until you are here to pick one that you like best as you can go and see them and get a feel for the environment.
Hope this helps.

LJ independent schools do prioritise those in nursery but may also make additional spaces available for incomers at 4+, state primaries -which I think you refer to - usually don't/can't as part of their admissions procedure.

I know someone who sent her DD to the local pre-school and then onto a private pre-prep. Her reasoning for doing it was firstly distance - the pre-prep is a fair journey for a short day, plus she wanted her DD to make some local friends as the pre-prep she was going to had a wide catchment.

I believe there was also an issue with the pre-prep nursery insisting on a minimum number of sessions too.

Her DD was the only "new" child in her Reception class and tbh has struggled to make friends/settle quickly. Though she is a quiet shy girl so may have had that problem anyway.