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 think this would be a big struggle

What do you see as an advantage all settings work to the EYFS? What activity will you offer a nursery or childminder doesn't? Being a teacher allows you to have more children per adult major disadvantage to the child.
Childminders open as early as 6.30 but typically 7 and often work to 6 or later and will take the child to school once they start, cover holidays and training days up to child moving to senior school and beyond. Most private nurseries are 8am or earlier to 6 pm.
All take the funding.
Then what's the advantage to you with so many nurseries losing money and being forced to close...and owners being forced to take second jobs?
Do you have any business experience?

It's 15 or 30 hours for 38 weeks or can be spread over the weeks a setting is open.

What settings are paid depends on your LA schools tend to get more. In some areas it can be much lower than £4.50 .....go on champagne nurseries for Lemonade funding FB page.

It might also be worth looking into whether or not you might also need a member of staff with a level 3 qualification. In fact you may need 2. Unless your teaching degree is early years specific it wouldn't count as early years qualified. I'm aware it's a higher qual but they have stated now that the degrees don't count as full and relevant unless they're early years specific or eyps. Doesn't mean you wouldn't be able to do it, just means you would always have to have another couple of qualified people there

I definitely wouldn't move my 2 year old to a different childcare setting for 3-4 year olds when the time came. Too much upheaval.

Hi- I've taught this age and been a parent looking for a teacher led nursery too.

I think the attraction and selling point in this sort of stand alone nursery could be the provision. An excellent, free-flow outdoor space with opportunities above and beyond what regular nurseries provide. Animals, bonfires, wood work, woodland space, gardening etc. I would love my children to attend a place like this and would pay extra for he privilege. It doesn't need to be a massive space, but functional for the children and attractive to the parents. (Who after all, pay!) Of course alongside this is the main resource of excellent practitioners.

It depends on what else is available in the local area. In my local area, there is only one setting which is open longer than a school day AND all year round and it's 15 mins drive outside the town, so people wanting longer hours all year round find it really hard to get childcare.

However you said you'd like to attract people wanting to use 30 hours free from 3yo but who haven't used a nursery before. To qualify for 30 hours free, both parents must be working a minimum number of hours per week so the likelihood is that the children would have already started attending a nursery so the parents could work. You'd probably get children who are eligible for 15 free hours from 3, these are the children who are unlikely to have attended a nursery before.

Would wrap around nursery care be a better option? You could do drop off and pick up from school nursery and cover school holidays. I know quite a few parents who have their children in school nursery for the making friends aspect and then struggle with drop offs, pick ups and holidays and conversely people who've had to keep their children in private nursery for the hours worrying about making friends and getting used to school.

One thing to bear in mind is that childcare is a fairly hot political topic at the moment, so it may be as well to see where that settles before committing to anything. Of course systems can always change, but my sense is that something will be coming in the relatively near future which may mean you'd want to adjust your plans (and, indeed, may make them more viable).

If we continue to have a Conservative government they'll no doubt come up with something superficially attractive that actually screws over both parents and providers, but Labour also seem to be running with childcare reform right now, so either way I imagine some change is coming.

In answer to your questions I'm afraid I'm another voice adding to the chorus of people who wouldn't be looking to remove their child from one nursery at 3 just to go to a different one for a year; and lower ratios would worry me.

There are a few private nurseries near me that only offer 3+ but they all offer a huge amount of outdoor time (i.e. either are fully outdoor or primarily spend time outdoors). Kids are a good mix of have never been in childcare (SAHPs/looked after by grandparents) and have been moved across from private nursery - so obviously parents won't necessarily find that disruptive if it's for the right offering. I think you'd need to research what that right offering would constitute in your area. Where I live there is a strong desire for outdoor education so I guess that's why parents are willing to uproot their kids in that way.

No I would not have moved my child who went from 12months