Starting my own nursery for 3-4year olds (pre-reception)

[Daymo]

Hello, I am a qualified teacher, currently teach reception class children, have taught nursery (3-4 years) previously too.

Recently I have been thinking about opening my own Nursery for 3-4 years old. I intend for the nursery to open all year round and offer govt 30hours free childcare. I also would open from 8-6 to offer working parents ‘top up’ hours.

My ‘selling point’ for my nursery would be that it is teacher led, all year round and offers longer hours.

My worries are:
would parents move their children from the nursery their child have been attending since babies to my nursery when they turn 3 years?

would parents rather move their children to a nursery attached to a school when their child turns 3, so their children can start reception class at that same school the following September?

Thank you for reading :)

I would be unlikely to move my two (both in nursery from aged 1) unless it was linked to their future school. Otherwise, it would just be disrupting to move them at 3 and then again for school.

Agreed. I moved DS to the school nursery and the hours are annoying but I did it because he'd be going to the school and meet his peers earlier (and it's a great nursery). If I'd absolutely needed the longer hours I would have kept him in his initial nursery, and not been bothered that the preschool stage didn't feature a teacher.

It might not be commercially viable to offer 30hours funded only. Most nurseries need the income from under3s to supplement the low hourly rate for the 30 funded hours.

If you were also offering breakfast club and after school to primary aged DC then I'd consider using for age 3-5. Otherwise I'd rather go to a nursery attached to a primary school.

Thanks 👍🏾

The school I currently work at does not offer breakfast club or afterschool club for nursery children, only for reception children upwards. Also my current school only offer 15hours for 3-4years (8.30-11.30am 12.30-3.30pm).

I used a community preschool for my eldest as it meant her younger sister was in the same setting.

Two different settings for siblings is logistically difficult

We only used private nursery and not school nursery. It offered what yours was offering so would not have moved to another setting.

What provision do local private nurseries offer as most people I know stay in private until school or move to school nursery for final year.

Thank you for your replies.

So I’m assuming from your replies, children who previously haven’t attended nursery from birth that turn 3 (30hrs free childcare) are the children highly likely to attend the nursery I open.

I was also thinking although parents would prefer to move their children to a school nursery, depending on where they live, they’re not guaranteed a reception place at that same school.

Private nurseries here at 7.30am-6pm typically do those are longer hours vs school nursery typically, but still shorter than normal private.

I wouldn't move my DC at that age unless it was connected to the school. However you may have enough of a market for those who aren't going to nursery yet because of funding?

I can't say I would be overly concerned about being teacher led, it's the feel of the nursery for me at that age.

I wouldn't move my DD at 3

Honestly making being teacher led a big thing would put me off. I don't want my 3/4 year old being pushed into a school like environment at that age and from making that a big selling point that's what I would assume it would end up being.
But I maybe well in a minority there

It depends imo - we moved DD at 4 to a school nursery, before moving her again to a different school for Reception. I felt she'd had long enough in her first nursery, and that she needed a change. You'll also presumably get people moving into the area who need "any" (practically) nursery place, so end up with you, as well as people wanting a school type nursery, but with longer hours / 51 weeks a year.

You need to look into this really carefully - as I know you will. Start with the hourly rate, for ‘free childcare’ that the government pays - often not enough to appropriately staff the provision!

I looked at this, as a teacher and with experience of advising EY settings too.

In my evaluation, the positive was being able to provide children with really good learning experiences.
However, there were lots of downsides - finding and maintaining quality staff who would provide the level of care and learning that I expected ( including admin and cleaning), leading a team, rules and regulations, including HR, finding suitable premises, including staff rooms and office space. Long hours and few holidays. The huge responsibility, solely for keeping children and staff safe.
I could also earn about as much teaching and without the financial risk.

To still provide great learning experiences I found I was better off as a large child minder, with a designated room, certainly financially and in terms of managing staff and premises.

Why only 3-4 years?
My son started nursery here at 2.4 years. Not in uk so he’s in the same nursery group with 2-6 year olds. They all do the same thing.
He isn’t 3 another few months so wouldn’t have started at yours until 3.4 years which would be too late for me as I took the first 2+ year’s maternity already.

Also not sure I would want a ‘teacher’ in particular. I like that school isn’t until 6 years here, so he will spend 4 years at nursery painting, in the gym, outside in the garden and woods a lot. I don’t need him ‘ educated’, I just want somewhere he can play with other children and have fun a few hours each morning

Honestly I can't see this working unless you can get premises on the grounds of a school that don't have their own nursery.
I wouldn't move my child from a nursery to you then a year later to a school. I'd either keep them where they are or move to them to the school nursery where they will likely go to school.
Those that need childcare 8-6 will likely have had children in a FT setting from an early age so unlikely to move them.
A school near to me only runs the school nursery on a morning, an external playgroup then offer hours on an afternoon, they have a building on the school grounds but aren't part of the school. Is there anything like this near you you could set up? If you could offer wraparound care around an existing school nursery? It's the only way I see it possibly working.

I am sorry OP, I would not be interested. In my area there are plenty of private nurseries offering 8-6 that accept children from 6 months to 4 years. I am very happy with the level of 'teaching' that the one I am using is providing (little one has been introduced to reading, writing, counting with very good results for his age).

Yes I agree. By 3 they tend to have ‘special friends’, party invitations, you know a few of the other parents. I wouldn’t disrupt them by moving them. It may attract the 30 free hours only types though, but then that will reduce your profits. I would start as a childminder if I were you, taking on an assistant and perhaps 5-7 children depending on the safety ratio requirements.

Or perhaps a specialist SEN childminder depending on your experience working with SEN children? I imagine quite a few parents would be interested in this, giving them an educational head start before school?

The Early Years curriculum is the same no matter whether it’s delivered in a private setting, a nursery school or a preschool attached to a school. I would struggle to see how a stand-alone nursery school could survive in this day and age; logistics alone would make it a nightmare.

Also, as a PP said, at this age the best staff were very experienced Early Years practitioners and nursery nurses not teachers. They are the ones who can deal with problems like your child not getting how to wait their turn, toilet training and basic table manners, which is what matters.

Thank you for your honest feedback :)

I decided on 3-4years old because I feel it would benefit me ratio wise. My adult to child ratio would be 1:13. Nursery nurses (1:8)

I think I read something govt 30hrs base rate is around £4.50per hour.

I could set my own hourly rate for parents who want to top up.

I guess I have a lot to think about!

You'll need to cost it all up and work out the minimumnumber of children and staff that works financially and in the space you have available. I would be wary of somewhere with only 1 or 2 members of staff and high ratios due to the risk of the nursery closing if staff were off sick.

Also consider location. Does it have car parking space, near public transport links etc. The most popular private nursery in my town is opposite the local train station/main bus stop and has a huge enclosed garden so parents know their kids get fresh air every day and is easy to dropoff and pickup around their commute

As others have said 8am - 6pm isn't "longer hours", unless you are comparing with the school hours of a Nursery class in a school. Most PIVs offer the chance to drop at 7.30.

Then, being in a Nursery attached to a school or not has no impact on whether the dc get a place in Reception at that school, so not sure how that would influence anyone who was aware of that.

In the pre-school year, EVERY provider should be following the EYFS (if you are in England), so not really sure that having a 1:13 ratio is a selling point over having a 1:8 ratio for most parents, especially with the number of dc in Nurseries at the moment with significant and complex needs being at an all time high. I suspect most parents would prefer the higher level of staffing.

However, you should talk to a few Nursery owners first and ask them what makes life challenging in terms of running a Nursery at the moment.

Just a thought, have you checked with your LA around sufficiency. The LA will have a local plan, be aware of place need, over sufficiency and impact on other settings before it agrees your application.

You say you would open all year round, and offer the government 30hrs free childcare. Just a thought, but isn't that limited to something like 38 weeks a year? If it is, will you be able to make up the shortfall?

1:13 ratio would be the thing that would put me off! I know that's legal when there's a qualified teacher, but of all the ones for this age I've looked at only 1 did 1:13, the rest were more like 1/6 or 1/8, even if they could technically do more kids to adults.

If people are working they will have already sorted out childcare from around age 1 anyway. So are unlikely to move their children unless there was a good reason to.

SAHM or children with childminders may start preschool around this age, so they might be interested, but the extended hours thing would probably not be particularly beneficial (as either the SAHP or childminder could pick up earlier)