OUR CHILD WILL BE 4 IN JULY DO WE NEED TO SEND HIM NURSERY OR PRESCHOOL.

[deebella]

WE ARE A BIT CONFUSED, AT THE MOMENT OUR CHILD DOES NOT GO TO PRE SCHOOL OR A NURSERY A CHOOSE WE MADE FOR HIM LAST YEAR AND AS HE WILL BE TURNING 4 IN JULY THIS YEAR DO WE HAVE TO SEND HIM TO A PRESCHOOL OR A NURSERY? WE HAVE READ THAT NEED TO APPLY BY 15TH JULY BUT DOES THIS APPLY TO US IF WE WANTED HIM TO ONLY GO TO A PRESCHOOL. WE ARE VERY CONFUSED WITH HOW IT ALL WORKS, WE DO KNOW THAT WE WILL BE ENTILTLED TO 15 HOURS FREE? ALL HELP BE MOST WELCOME. THANKS

Can you turn off Caps please as it is a bit "shouty" :)

If he is 4 in July and you are in England he should start Reception in September, not preschool, and applications deadline for state schools is imminent ie. this week iirc. You would end to ring around to see if there are any spaces at a nursery/preschool for funded sessions before the summer.

And you probably need to apply for a school place before the end of January. Please check your local council's website for details.

As an aside, using capitals is the equivalent of shouting

And the deadline for school applications is in 3 days (England and Wales).

Assuming you're in England, you should be applying for a place in reception from September.

You should be checking with your local council urgently, as the application forms needed to be in around now for our DS who started last September.

Cross post Winterwardrobetime!

I think he will be starting Reception, the first year of formal school, in September actually.

Erm, if your child is 3 now and turning4 this year, he will be going to school in September, and you've got until wednesday to apply! Forget preschool for tonight, make sure you've not missed the deadlines for actual school!

(Once you've done that, you might want to call round preschools and see if any have places for the rest of this year, you are entitled to 15 hours now)

You need to apply for a school place now. Applications in my county close on the 15th jan for a September start for all children who will be 4 before the end of august.

You do not need to go to nursery or pre-school if you don't want to.

Assuming you are in England if he is going to be 4 in July he will start School in September. He should be in nursery now (not compulsory but it will provide him with the basics before starting Reception year).

Massive cross post!

Epic x-posting all round.

Hopefully OP will get the message that she needs to apply for a primary school reception place in the next couple of days.

Your child should start school in September. The school application deadline will not be as late as July. The deadline for my area is next week. You should find application info on your local authority website.

Hello there OP. If your DS is 4 in July he is due to start school in September 2014 and the deadline for applications for school places is 15th January - so in 3 days time.

However as I understand it you do not legally have to send him to school until the term after his 5th birthday - so that would be September 2015. However he would then go straight into year one and miss reception.

Whenever you decide to send him to big school you might like to send him to preschool in the meantime as a stepping stone - I presume he's not in any childcare at the moment? Preschool would get him used to being away from you and in a similar setting to reception class.

Oops cross posted with everyone, must learn to type/look things up more quickly!!!

Yup - primary applications need to be in ASAP.

Would mean he would start in reception at school in September.

Between now and then, you can try preschool or nursery if you can find any with places. You would get 15 hours paid for. But it's not compulsory. Often a good idea though as a gentle transition before 'big' school in September.

Sorry, more x posting

Oh yes, and while you can skip reception and go straight to year 1, you are unlikely to get a space in year 1 if your preferred school is very popular (they will have filled their places from reception, so unless someone leaves, there will be no more places available)

Worth bearing in mind that if you leave school until the term after 5th birthday (I.e. year 1 of school) you may find that no schools have places because they will have gone to people starting their dcs in reception year. Class sizes are restricted to 30 and ness Simone leaves between reception and year 1, there may not be a place available.

X post!

OP - I hope if you do come back you realise you only have 2 days to apply for a school place! Please do it ASAP, you can do it online, check your council's website, they don't all tell you.