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Preschool education

Get advice from other Mumsnetters to find the best nursery for your child on our Preschool forum.

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Original poster

Confused about nursery process!

17 replies

Belle15 · 21/01/2014 18:48

I am extremely confused and wondering if anyone can shed light on this.
My daughter has just turned 2 and currently attends a private nursery when I am at work. It is my understanding that in the term following her 3rd birthday she will be entitled to 15 hours free which they will knock off her fees if she stays there. But on researching school nurseries it seems you have to choose whether to do 5 mornings or 5 afternoons between eg 9 and 12 . My question is what do people do for childcare outside of these hours? I start work at 8 and finish at 5ish so. Couldn't even drop her off so late.
So am I to resign to only being able to use private nursery? What do others do? Sorry for rambling!

OP posts:

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DontCallMeDaughter · 21/01/2014 19:11

Yes. Basically you are stuck with the private nursery. And the chances are it won't be the full cost of the 15 hrs they knock off the bill. In our area they only knock off what they get from the council which is about 1/3 of the cost per hour. Even though that is against the rules.

You could hire a nanny/au pair to do the wrap around care 8am-9am then from 12 until you get home but I'm guessing this will be more expensive and something of a hassle to organise.

Oh and there are only 52 state nursery places in our area so the chances of getting one are extremely limited anyway.

Sigh.

Extremewife · 21/01/2014 19:19

I pay a childminder to have DS2 but as you are taking up one of their "under five" places some charge you even when they are at nursery it works for me as she picks DS1 from school so they are together after school

It gets worse when they go to school !!

Original poster

Belle15 · 21/01/2014 20:34

That's what I thought
Do you think the standard of education is lower in private nurseries?

OP posts:

BingoWingsBeGone · 21/01/2014 20:38

Our preschool was a charity and you could select your 5 sessions (subject to availability) so I had 2.5 days which left more scope for some meaningful work between 9 and 3.30

Check if there are other options than private or school. With ours there were no charges above the govt rate other than £1.50 per lunch session on the full days

lilyaldrin · 21/01/2014 20:41

Yes, the standard of education and resources is likely to be lower at a private nursery - they are providing childcare, but not education in the way a qualified teacher would.

My DS goes to a nursery school that has wrap-around care from 8am to 5.30pm though - lots of state nurseries seem to here.

DontCallMeDaughter · 21/01/2014 20:50

I don't really think it's fair to say all private nurseries offer poorer education than all state nurseries. They all follow EYFS and I'd assume the standard varies from setting to setting.

They'll only be 3, I'm not planning on being too concerned about the education aspect at this stage anyway. I'd be much more concerned that they're happy, engaged and well cared for...

HaroldLloyd · 21/01/2014 20:53

We can't use a private one for the 15 hours if a state one has space within a 2 mile radius.

Our nursery pick up & drop off but it'd not that much chesper but it is a bit cheaper so that's what I am okanning to do, and then DS will be used to going over to the school every day as well.

lilyaldrin · 21/01/2014 20:53

Some private nurseries have qualified teachers, but not many.

BackforGood · 22/01/2014 00:08

Generally speaking, private nurseries have staff with lower levels of academic qualification than school nurseries, however, what a lot of people don't take into account is that they have a MUCH higher staffing ratio.
In a PVI, the pre-schoolers have 1 adult to 8 children. If there is a teacher present, the ratio drops to 1 adult to 13 children. So a pre-school room of 24 children in a PVI will have 3 qualified members of staff, and a room full of the same aged children in a school nursery will have 2 members of staff, only one of whom will have more qualifications than the staff at the PVI.
I know of children, each year who leave PVIs, thinking the school will be better, then return.

lilyaldrin · 22/01/2014 00:13

Though that depends on the individual nursery - those are the legal minimum ratios. My son's nursery class has 26 children and at least 1 teacher and 2 assistants, often a student teacher and LSA as well.

BackforGood · 22/01/2014 00:20

True, but PVIs have students and Inclusion support assistants, and now apprentices too, and are very often over ratio - can only compare the legal requirements without knowing each individual setting.

lilyaldrin · 22/01/2014 00:22

In my experience, private nurseries very rarely have above the minimum staffing levels - they can't afford too.

BackforGood · 22/01/2014 00:27

No, but what I see a lot is rooms where they have to have the 2nd, or 3rd member of staff there as they have more than the 8 (or 16) children in, but then there might only be 9 or 10 children (or 17 or 18) so the ratio gets lowered by default.
Or in recent years, a lot of families take up the free places, but have no compunction about attending every day, so the room is staffed according to those due to attend, but they are never all in particularly if it's raining.

MrsCakesPremonition · 22/01/2014 00:37

State nurseries just don't seem to exist where I live. The choice is private nursery or private preschool.

Nurseries usually offer the full childcare for working parents, preschool just offers a few hours in the morning or afternoon.

Everyone just takes their pick as to what they need, which setting they like and feedback from friends and family.

Littlefish · 22/01/2014 17:32

I'm a teacher in a school nursery. We are open from 8.00am to 5.00pm. Parents can use their funded sessions between 8.50am and 3.00pm. They can do any combination of mornings, afternoons or whole days to use their 5 sessions and can pay for extra sessions beyond the 5 x 3 hr funded sessions. Sessions between 8.00am-9.00am and. 3.00-5.00pm are charged separately.

We stick to a ratio of 1 adult to 10 children (so inbetween a private nursery and state nursery requirement).

Why do we do this? Because we talked to the parents in the local community and responded to what they wanted.

There are flexible school nurseries out there, but not enough!

Tiredemma · 22/01/2014 17:35

The nursery that I have chosen for my DD has the same set up as littlefish

teacherlikesapples · 26/01/2014 13:12

Depends on the setting. Most council nurseries & children's centres that I know of let you pay for the extra sessions (assuming they have space) So you might pay for an extra 15 hours to get a 9-3 day, or pay more to get the extended hours to. Not sure about school nurseries. Just ask the places that you are interested in- they will each operate a little differently depending on their set up & needs of the local community.

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