Key things a pre school nursery should have (long one)

[div22c]

My daughter has been going to a nursery full-time since she was 2, she is now 3.10. I recently stopped working to become a SAHM, and changed her nursery timings to half days. Maybe I observe more now, or maybe her needs have changed (or am being unduly picky) - but I think her nursery may not be adequately preparing her for starting school.

For me, key issues with current nursery are:

• as she is among the oldest children there, the latest carer to join the nursery (usually the youngest as well) is made her key worker. The nursery never advises us of the changeover, we just discover it one fine day. Not that I have anything against young keyworkers, but I wonder how much experience they have. It seems to suggest least qualified attention for the older kids.
• the age mix of the children has changed alot over time, they seem to have lots of babies now - again meaning overall less attention for older ones
• tiny open area with some slides/ swings etc where they go out for half an hour daily - most of the playthings I suspect she has outgrown but plays on for want of suitable alternatives
• I am not happy with the food they provide, possibly my daughter's options are limited as she is a vegetarian
• tiny nursery space indoors. This was ok earlier as they never had full numbers, but now they are full up, everyone seems to be squeezing past each other, especially with crawling babies everywhere. Shouldn't a pre schooler have more space?

On the plus side, the nursery is quite clean, they have a Montessori teacher who comes twice a week, they have a sports class and a music class every week, and my daughter seems quite happy there.

Considering changing her nursery. In preparation for school in September, what is it that a nursery should help her to achieve, and what is it that I as a mum should look for in a nursery?

Going on what you say I would move nursery a.s.a.p. Either they are changing key workers for no real reason or they have a high turnover of statt - bad practice! Outdoor play should be available as much as ever possible - half an hour is not anywhere near enough. Indoor and outdoor spaces should be attractive and stimulating for all the children. Staff/child ratios should mean your child has to share an adult with no more than 7 other children. Ideally crawling babies should have their own room and space as the toys suitable for your daughters age group are potentially dangerous for babies
The only good point - and you haven't really detailed this- is that presumably she is settled there and feels secure, perhaps you should talk to her about what she likes and doesn't like about the place. I don't think the issue is about school readiness but more about meeting her needs as a three year old which you obviously feel is not happening. Take her with you to look at a few other settings and see how you go on.

The main difference with a preschool (I'm on the committee of ours and out play leader was talking about it last week as we had ofsted in), is that a preschool is an educational setting that also offers care, but a nursery is a care setting that offers a bit of education. Might be biased as mine have only really gone to preschool but the structure there helped the transition to school (DD1 has just started reception and DD2's just started preschool). I'd definitely look into moving her to a preschool, especially if you can find one that has decent links with the school she'll be going to (for instance, DD1 did at least 3 visits to school either with preschool staff or us, and the school teacher came to preschool to see them a couple of times as well...)

Good luck!

Hello!
Best thing to do is go look around the local pre-schools. You'll soon get an instinct for what is on offer and what suits your DD (and you). If I was you I might do a combination at this stage- you could keep her at the old setting a bit for familiarity but if you find a pre-school with a place (rare at this time of year, but they may give your DD priority as she is older) then get her there 2/3 mornings a week too. For me it was a case of which environment was the most stimulating and which carers/teachers I liked/respected the most!

I agree about looking about for a preschool and ideally one where she would likely to meet children she would start school with - however I would not worry too much - reception is very play based and if she used to routines and being with other children that is the best preparation