taking over a pre school

[oliver777]

Hi,
I have the oppotunity to take over a pack away pre school. I have btec level 3 and 20 years exspirence in early years. They dont want money just someone to keep it running. I have a few questions , 1 Do we need a legal contract or can we write one ourself, the pre school is in a local hall. 2, I have filled in an ey2 for ofstead do you now how long this takes. Can the nominated individual inform ofstead of her intetion to dtand down and me to take over . Has anyone else done this x

Good heavens op

the first thing that entered my mind was

”car crash in the making”

What do you mean by takeover?

Are you committee run? Have you been asked to be the chair? Or the manager?

I'm not going to lie this was my first thought too!

Who has asked you to take over and what policies are already in place? Will you be paid for the role or is it voluntary?

It all sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.

The lady set it up 15 years ago as a ltd co , she wants to retire but wants it to stay open. The commity also want it ti stay open and ask if i would buy her out and take over the registration. Ofsted said she would have ti add me ad a nominated person .

If they don't want money why are you being asked to buy her out?

Sorry she only wanted £1 as she thought there had to be a sale. We are all a bit confussed as ofsted have not been much help , they just say i have to fill out an ey2 and she has to fill out an ey3 and we just hand over the copany between us once the mame sure I am a suitable person. How ever the local early years team think there needs to be a money exchange /sale. They dont seem to know if i can just take it over as an owner and a manager. We keep getting very conflicting advice x

You need proper legal advice here.

You need legal advice. If the Pre School is a member of the Early Years Alliance, they may be able to offer support, also Companies House as the details of directors etc would need amending & if applicable the Charity Commission will need informing, they are good at advising you of the procedure. I would seek independent legal advice separate from the owner's if I were in your position.

I did this 6 years ago! We did need a re registration from ofsted though - it was a fairly major undertaking and we got our certificate the day the children started in September (the process was started in May). Like your offer, we bought the nursery for £1.

As others mentioned, join the EYA if not already done, and seek their advice. In my area preschools are closing at an alarming rate, shoved out by the big chains and parental need for full daycare. And definitely get a contact with the hall provider, I know so many even successful preschools that suddenly get chucked out because the hall owner can get more money from other hirers.

What's a pre school? Playgroup or nursery?