When should my child start 3 year old nursery

[Marnie182]

Just that really. She will be 3 this year April 24th. I've googled when the funded 3 year old nursery starts and it says September 1st.
I've got a few people telling she should definitely start before then.
I'm quite confused.
Hoping anyone can shed some light

She can start when you want her to/ when there’s a space available. This is mostly likely to be September due to the older ones heading off to school. She will indeed be funded from September.

I think the funded hours start the term after their 3rd birthday so Setember sounds right to me.

*September

In Scotland so may be different for you but if a child is born before end February then they start the Monday after their 3rd birthday. If they are 3 between 1st March and school going back in August then they start nursery in August.

The cut off date for funding is 1st April if I remember rightly. My ds2’s birthday is in April so we did not get funding until September. He started at the beginning of the Spring term though but we had to pay.

I think it depends on local authority arewethereyet. We moved from Glasgow which had a similar rule to what you've quoted but in South Lanarkshire they go by term so even though DD1 (Oct birthday) had started in Glasgow she had to wait to start in Jan when we moved.

They can attend a private day nursery whenever you like. The funding for 15 or 30 hours is only applicable from the start of the school term after their 3rd birthday. So for your DD that will be the September. (In England, no idea about elsewhere).

What sort of nursery is it? The pre school my dc go to accepts dc the day after they turn 2 but the funded hours start in the term after they turn 3, so for your dc it would depend on when Easter fell but with a 24th April birthday December sounds about right.

The cut off dates are 1st Jan, 31st Mar and 31st Aug. It dosent matter when the terms start, 15 hr funding becomes available for 3 year olds the term after their 3rd birthday, so for you it will be Sept.

I think you're right soloula. I'm an early years practitioner and work over 2 different councils and in one they have gone back to having children start termly rather than staggered. It is so much better for the children as there are a few settling in at once and we can tailor activities better and it also means all new parents are definitely getting all the information at the same time.

Thank you for all the replies,we are in England.

There is two I like the look of, one is part of a school and the other is a private nursery.
A relative has said I've left it late to apply and I should have applied around Christmas, slightly worried!
I will give them a ring.

Application processes will very entirely by setting - at my DC's school you have to apply in Sept for next Sept and have a sibling in the school (it's very over subscribed) for other pre school settings nearby some have year round spaces while some have long waiting lists and it seems quite random.

Our local pre school has a huge waiting list but it does depend on area. I would phone ASAP just in case! We did start with fewer hours than I wanted but I kept his name on the waiting list and more hours did become available later in the year.

You can also use your funded hours at some childminding settings.

Our pre school (not attached to a school but term time only rather than a private nursery)accepts dc throughout the year. I think with ds I e mailed them in November and he started in the January- but that was for sessions we had to pay for.

The private nursery will almost certainly depend on if they have a waiting list and then how long that list is.