What is the point of pre-schools attached to a school?!

[ARR14]

Half question half rant really...if pre-school attendance has no impact on admission to that primary school, then what is the point? I feel like it is really unfair to prepare kids for that school only for them to not gain admission if there are loads of siblings/slightly closer distance to school and attendance in the Pre-school not being factored in. Having a DC due to start school next year and having put them in a really good pre-school attached to a primary half a mile from home, I'm big to the realisation that they may very well not get in to reception after seeing how many siblings are attending the pre-school with them. Arghhhhhh! Would hate to unsettle them at the end of the year. But really, what is the point in pre-schools attached to a primary when the admissions process disregards attendance?!! Ok, rant over

We sent dd1 to the preschool attached to our catchment infant school, so that she knew some other kids when she started school. Tbh it was purely for this reason, the actual preschool itself was almost irrelevant, it was just to make local friends.

It is really frustrating OP . The school admission system in England is a mess. I also think it is a unfair but then there are others who say it would be unfair if it did have an impact on admissions.

A good preschool will be aware that not all children will be going to the 'attached' school and will do their best to prepare them for this.

Because it was an awesome nursery/preschool. There was a chance he would get in to the school and would be better prepared. The other school he may have got in had no preschool so he would have to go to a different pre school anyhow.

Well, it is preparation for school, even if it's not that school
It's about being in a school environment
Wearing uniform
Going in for assembly
Having lunch
Doing pe
Having an awareness of behavioural expectations

I sent dd to a pre-school attached to a school in the next village. I had no intention of sending her to that school but I absolutely loved the pre-school.

A pre-school on a school site is very handy when there is an older sibling already at the school, just one place to do drop offs. For a first child there's no real extra benefit.

Good points I suppose I hadn't really thought about it prepping for school in general although I will be gutted if DC doesn't get in and I have to explain why she won't 😞

DC1 went to pre-school attached to his primary school. The friends he made in nursery were not the ones he had in year 1. He left in year 3. Life changes.
But nursery doesn't set kids on a definitive path as far as friends go.

Two of my kids went to our wonderful local nursery then onto a different primary school. Not an issue in the least! I'd prefer to leave them at the school they start nursery at but its secondary feeders are rubbish. This is the only reason our kids don't remain there after pre-school/nursery.

But I wouldn't worry at all about kids starting reception at a different school. It's not a big deal.

To have it linked to admission would be even more unfair given that for a lot of working parents it wouldn't be a feesible option.

I only sent DS to pre-school attached to the school because I knew catchments in previous years meant he would be pretty certain to get it

If you linked admission then children living miles away who had parents who could facilitate preschool attendance would get priority over local children who couldn't/didn't attend preschool for whatever reason.

Surely you pick the preschool that works best for you child/family? Not every child goes to the same primary school as everyone else at preschool. At my son's preschool, despite being attached to a school children go to about 4 different schools.

The "point" is to provide pre-school education for local children. Not to enable parents who choose to send their children there to get a short cut to admission to the primary school on the same site.

DS1 went to a pre-school on the site of a primary school because it was a fantastic setting, and it suited us better than the more local pre-schools, and anyway there wasn't a pre-school on the site of the primary school he ended up going to. As it happens the primary school his pre-school was attached to wasn't great anyway.

Staff at the pre-school prepare children for school, they don't prepare children to attend a particular school. DS1 knew from early on that he wouldn't be going to the same school as his friends, and his pre-school friends went to a variety of primary schools. No problem. Manage expectations! If all the way through you are talking to your DC about it might be this school or it might be a different school, then there's no big deal about having to explain.

Changing to school rather than pre-school is always going to be unsettling, you're not going to avoid that.

For parents with older siblings already at the school it is great. Only one drop off and little one loves being at the same "school" as his big brother.
It also helps with transition to reception, in fact due to being a small school pre-school and reception are mixed where my son goes. He wears a uniform, mixes with older children, is already in a school environment so P. E, assemblies etc. He does mornings and one full day a week which he loves as he gets to have his lunch and breaktime, a proper school day. Not ready for full days every day as he gets tired being 3.
With my 1st who was eventually diagnosed with autism that set up wouldn't have worked at all and he went to a separate pre-school. But a pre-school attached to a school for my confident 2nd child is the perfect set up!

The point of nursery classes and pre schools attached to primary schools is exactly the same as those not attached to primary schools to provide early years education.

“ I feel like it is really unfair to prepare kids for that school only for them to not gain admission” they aren’t there to prepare kids for that school.