Nursery and pre school.

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Can anyone please tell me the difference between nursery and pre school and what we pay for. I'm getting so confused by it all. FTm.

Essentially nothing in terms of care given and following the Early Years Foundation Stage for learning and development. You should expect to receive the same level of care from both.
Usually a nursery is open all year round and offers longer days. A pre-school may only be open term time and probably has shorter days ie 9-4 rather than 7-7.
Both should accept any funding that is available to you.

The quick answer is 'no' because it isn't that simple.

Early years settings can call themselves whatever they want to.

Some call themselves pre-schools, some Nurseries, some Day Nurseries, some Nursery schools.

There are 'maintained nurseries' which are either a class in a Primary school or a stand alone Nursery school. They are usually free to attend and are run by a qualified teacher. Where there is a qualified teacher, the ratios are different (1 adult to 13 children)

'PVIs' (Private, voluntary and Independents) are either businesses or community run. They charge - either to cover costs or to make a profit. From the term after your child's 3rd birthday, you are entitled to 15 hours funded by the Government. In theory, this ought to be free to you. In practice, the money the settings get from the Government doesn't cover their costs, so they try to make it back, in many cases by charges for lunchtimes or other 'expenses'. In these settings, there aren't very often teachers (there are some exceptions), BUT the ratios are more favourable in that they have 1 adult for 8 children

All children age 3 - 4 are entitled to 15 hours education a week.

This can be used at pre-schools attached to primary schools, stand-alone preschools or private nurseries. Preschools don't tend to take under 3s (although some do take 2 year olds).

Nurseries cater for children from a few weeks old until they go to school. Children at private nurseries who are in the 3-4 Age group will undertake the same Early years curriculum as those who are in state preschools.

Some parents of 3-4 year olds are also eligible for an additional 15 hours (making it 30 hours funded care).

Brilliant. Tha ks guys! I was getting so confused as to whether she went to a preschool at 2ish then to a nursery after 3 with the free hours. Its just a bit confusing to a few.

You really need to ask around locally - look at websites to give you an idea of what different places near you offer. Or you can get a list from your local authority (search Family Information Service and the name of your local authority).