Preschool Info - Coming to England from USA

[usatwinmama]

Hi. I'm new here and wondering if anyone can help me out. We have boy/girl twins that are currently 2 but will be 3 by August 2013, when my husband and I plan to arrive in Cambridge as my husband plans to do a sabbatical. The twins are about to start a 2's preschool cooperative class here in the USA (one of the only preschool classes here; most start children at age 3 and otherwise they are in daycare). Anyway, we'd like to continue having them in preschool when we arrive in England so that they can socialize with kids over there and still continue their education at the same time. We're trying to see what our options are for preschool, how early one has to register for this, how expensive they are, and any other details we should know about or plan in advance. We are just beginning this process so it's all new to us. I don't want to be sitting at home all day so I plan to be out and about with the twins and hopefully making new friends along the way. My husband is a Russian-Canadian dual citizen (here in the USA legally on a green card), and I am an American citizen...my family really did come to the USA on the Mayflower many generations ago.

If they are 3 in August then they will be eligible for 15hrs free nursery/preschool in the September, until they start school in September 2014.
I don't know Cambridge and it varies by area, but often schools have attached nurseries to provide this care. Our local small school offers afternoon nursery, larger schools may have a choice of morning/afternoon.

Or, some private nurseries will provide this care, some will charge a top up fee on top e.g. you get 3hrs a day free, but their sessions run from 1-6pm so you would have to pay the remaining 2hrs a day whether you use it or not. Equally if you need full time childcare due to work commitments this can be a cheaper option as they remove the free hours from the bill. However not all private nurseries offer this option. Where we are it costs £37 a day for a 3 year old. But the South East could be a lot more. Applying for a private nursery would depend on the nursery some have massive waiting lists, some don't. In our rural area it is a case of "Can I start next week?" "Yes no problem", probably not true in Cambridge.

You would apply for a nursery attached to the school in the academic year that starts this September. The dates vary slightly by area, so worth looking at the county borough council for where you are moving to for admission dates. In our area applications would open in January and close in February.

However, applications will probably need you to have a firm address in the UK as in oversubscribed areas they look at distance to pre-schools when determining if people get a place. We get a choice of 3 in our area, and due to low numbers tend to get our first choice. I would imagine Cambridge being larger might not be the same.

Oh, I forgot to mention. All nurseries whether private or run by the school should offer the Early Years Foundation Phase so they would be learning the same things wherever they are. It isn't formal sit down learning, but learning through play.

Just seen your question on the other thread about reading up on schools. Google OFSTED and you can see a list of schools in your area on their website. OFSTED have to check out all schools (and nurseries attached to schools) every few years. The more recent their report (available on their website) the more credence you can place on it. Not as good as visiting but a good place to start from.
They may also check private nurseries, I'm not sure.

Thanks! This is good information, and a little tricky for us I think. We are working on nailing down when the start date will be yet for the sabbatical and then my husband needs to submit the sabbatical papers I believe in September. And then we're going to have to start looking for a house to rent - we also have 2 labrador retrievers so likely those will come with us since it'd be too long a time to leave them in the USA and neither of our families can really take them. So we'll likely have to move to a place with a yard. We're hoping to be in Cambridge area and just get a car when we need it but otherwise maybe not have a car? Not sure about that yet. So I was assuming we'd probably look for a preschool (nursery?) around the campus somewhere, but my husband tells me the campus is more sprawled out. I've only been to London (as far as England; I've traveled elsewhere) so I don't know exactly when we'll have an address or if we'd be able to have an address for certain before applications are due so we're assuming we're going to have to try to just roll with whatever we can manage to realistically do but try to get information now so that we're prepared. I'm excited about our twins being able to be in a school with other children and learning from another culture and hopefully we can also connect with other moms as I am not planning to work. I use the time when the twins are away to get cleaning done or something. Right now I also take a class. I'm not sure what I'll be able to do in Cambridge, but I like to stay active and busy so I'm sure I'll find something.

Is a nursery like a daycare or like a preschool? They do get a chance to get taught things right? I would prefer that it's not a sit-down instruction kind of place...I don't think that'd work well for that age group anyway. I do like a lot of the Montessori approach though our twins will be in a 2's cooperative class (co-op) in the fall and also a Montessori parent/toddler class. I mostly just want them at a place that'll be safe, where they'll learn things, and interact with other kids around their age. I like the play-based. The twins are mostly potty trained but we're going to aim to try to get them farther along by next year.

I assume my husband would try to find a place as close to the university as we reasonably can but still have a yard for the dogs. And a place that would be ok with having dogs in the house; they are crate trained and potty trained. I was just thinking maybe I should try to find a place near where he'd be at work because at least we know we'd end up around there. But if we don't have a definite address, I don't know if that'd be a problem. So we could line up when the registration dates are and then aim to try to get an address around then but it seems like we'd probably end up not being able to go to any place that had a long wait list then because another professor who just finished sabbatical said you start looking for houses to rent around June. But sounds like applications would be in before then for preschools.

This is what I was thinking too which is why I'm starting this journey now - some places here have massive wait lists that start like a year or two in advance, especially for Montessori and Reggio schools. We're on the wait list for one of those schools now...for when our kids return here by age 4. It's kind of crazy to map so far in advance, but I don't want to do everything last minute and then find out we can do nothing. I'm fine with supplementing some of the cost too; it's just another thing we'd need to budget for but the costs don't seem unreasonable to me at all. It'll be kind of interesting that instead of our kids saying "This is truck." all of the time then they're going to start saying "This is lorry." (they skip definite articles right now)

For nurseries attached to primary schools, where I live in London applications had to be in by 15th December 2011 (separate form for each school) with a proof of permanent address. We then heard in April that she has a place for this September.

I imagine Cambridge will be much like London in terms of competition for places especially as a lot of staff and students are likely to have kids, so you may find that nurseries further out from the main University area are easier to get a place in.

For the private nurseries I would ring round and ask about costs, waiting lists etc. In London around £1k GBP a month per child is about the cost for a full-time private nursery place.

Check out the Early Years Foundation stuff as that will tell you what is covered in terms of learning - although every nursery has its own way of doing things. My DD goes to a nursery that is very strong on free-play and very low-key on any kinds of formal learning which is what I was looking for, but another in the local area is much more structured with very set activities.

Best of luck.

Does your husband's college not have an admin person who could advise on accommodation? Or have colleagues in Cambridge who will be on sabbatical elsewhere and therefore willing to rent out their house to you? That's what happened when a colleague went to harvard for a year with his family.

Re nurseries - the private ones tend to be full time (8-6 or so) and roughly cost £40 per day per child. In terms of the free 15 hours/week I don't know if you'd qualify given that you aren't residents ordinarily and pay tax etc. you can check your local authority's website (or google something like Cambridge local council and look up preschool education provision).
Of course in these nurseries it's like daycare and you can choose to go as many sessions you want and can pay for. A session is usually a morning or afternoon. So a full week is 10 sessions.

To check out these nurseries you can google Montessori, or busy bees. These are 2 of the more popular chains of nurseries that operate in the uk as far as I know. But I'm sure there are others.

If you are looking for more Part time ones you can try those that are linked to schools. They tend to be from say 9/9.15 to 12/1 pm. Or say 9-3pm. Very much catered to families who either have a stay at home parent or don't really need wraparound care. These may be cheaper too.

welcome to uk.

I have 3kids.

eldest started at private day nursery at 11months -guess this is uk equivilant to daycare.

at just over 3-she started a preschool.
roman catholic between the church and the primary school.

here they get 15hours funding term after their 3rd birthday

so eldest feb birtday got funding april just after easter when schools restarted as uk state preschools run similar terms to the schools.

When she started we kept both going.

you can split the 15hours between 2providers and pay the extra.

Generally most preschools here start at 2,5 and prefer the pottytrained.

eldests nursery was all one site and always felt the preschool room was rubbish but she was settled.

we looked at another day nursery the whole 2nd floor 3rooms was allocated to preschool was big chain leapfrog now busybees.

here all private day nurseries.
preschools faith or non faith
childminders
and reception class in uk primary-nearest comparision usa is kindergaten but reception starts as early as 4.

they all follow birth to five matters/foundation level.

which is child led and educational.

my 2nd child has been in day nursery since 18months they hqad seperate baby unit then builiding opposite side of road where they have group for 2-3 and keyworkers then true preschool age is 3-4 or whenever they start primary.

only 2schools in my county/area have attached nursery classes and they not so good primaries so wouldent wish the kids to stay here.

my 2nd going to same preschool as eldest and within same grounds as roman catholic primary(emementry)buts its seperate.

dont knock the private day nurseries their preschool groups classes can be good and run 51weeks a year.

my eldest have enjoyed both.
middle child due to start preschool ssept as shes sept shes 3.
she be 5when she starts school.
at moment im doing both again.

Check out the Cambridge Local board here. Lots of people have asked similar questions.

Your DH's college will have an accomodation office and people to help you find your way in Cambridge.

For childcare look here. It has a list of all childcare options in Cambridge. Basically it depends where you are living, but you should be able to find some preschooling for your twins. Others have described the basic situation in the UK.

Cambridge University doesn't really have a campus. It is all over the city, so depending on what subject your DH does, will depend where he needs to be each day. But generally, Cambridge isn't huge and most people cycle around.

Some of the colleges are really, really family friendly, others aren't so great. For example, Churchill College has amazing housing for families. It is a whole block of houses around a grassy patch with children's playground. The families I know there are all really friendly and helpful to each other. Everyone is in the same boat - away from home, studying etc - so there is lots of picking other children up from school, minding children while parent's are at lectures etc.

"Or, some private nurseries will provide this care, some will charge a top up fee on top e.g. you get 3hrs a day free, but their sessions run from 1-6pm so you would have to pay the remaining 2hrs a day whether you use it or not"

This is an abuse of the scheme. If you come across a nursery that is doing this, report them to the LEA under-8s team. Top ups are explicitly banned, and nurseries which do not offer the 15 hours as 15 hours must leave the scheme.

If you have dogs, you will need a big garden [ yard, and big by our standards, not 15 foot square like mine] So you will have to be on the outskirts of Cambridge or in a nearby village. The centre of the city of Cambridge is essentially the 'campus', though a few colleges and faculties are further out.

The good news is that as over half the population of the city are involved with the uni, standards of education are high and the nurseries and schools are used to confused overseas parents. So if your partner's employers aren't much help, talking to school nurseries or others direct may help.

Thanks to the recession there's more spaces as many parents reduce their days/ hours to save money. There's no difference between a preschool-age room in a nursery [daycare, but we like to think of the children being plants lovingly tended] or attached to a school as they have the same 1:8 staff ratio. Note that attending a school's preschool/nursery class usually doesn't prioritise them for places at the school, as that's usually done on distance.

I'm sure you'll like it in Cambridge when you arrive. There is a university run nursery/preschool which may be an option. Beware that most nurseries in central Cambridge have a lengthy waiting list and are more expensive that the villages. For my two (2 and nearly 4) I pay £105 per day but that varies from week to week as you only get the 15 hours preschool funding in term time. I'm not thinking about the bill for August as it will be huge! On the upside the nursery only closes on bank holidays, at Christmas and Easter so it's easier to fit childcare around work.

If you're looking for a space for two children you definitely need to start early. Most places have up to date websites and if you post in the local section many of us will have first hand experience of where you're thinking of choosing!

Good luck!