School system in England

[FTMFeb21]

Hi mums!

my DS is 2 and a half years old. Bright. Clever. Talking well. Knows alphabets and numbers to 10. He attends a private nursery since 8 months old.

We are thinking of sending him to independent school from September 2024. He will be 3.5 years then. Or should we wait until September 2025.

Apart from school fees, uniform fees, fee for summer holidays clubs, after school clubs. Is there anything else that I should be factoring in ?

I have not done my schooling in the UK and I don’t know enough people here. And most of them don’t answer properly. Asking at work about independent school , is not helpful .

Any advice will be useful. 🙏🏻
Thank you.

State and private settings following the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum for 3-5 year olds. You may be able to use EYFS funding at an independent school until they turn 5.

Presumably what you mean is should you send your DC to the pre school attached to an independent school or wait until they're a year older and send them to start in Reception?

Personally, I'd probably do the former, starting with shorter days/2-3 full days per week and build up to full weeks in the summer term. That's what we did with DS and I think it'll definitely help with his transition into Reception in a couple of weeks. Starting in pre school has also meant he could start to make friends with the other children who'll be in his class. Of the class of 18, 16 were pre-school attendees.

Do you mean that you are considering sending him to the nursery attached to a private school for his last year of nursery/pre school education?

Presuming you’ve already chosen the school and can get a place, it really comes down to the advantage of the school nursery versus the day nursery.
School nursery advantages: it’ll be easier to transition to school since he’ll know the building and a lot of the teachers, he’ll make friends with the kids he’ll be at school with, likely more specialist teacher lead lessons since the school already has them on staff eg French, Art, Music, Sport.
Disadvantages: term time only, if you work you may have difficulty booking holiday camps as many don’t take 3/4 year olds, even with wrap around care it may not be as many hours as the day nursery and also they may want them fully potty trained.

Regarding the costs, have you budgeted for the increases as they go up the school + inflation based rises? We got hit with 10% last year.

You also want to check that attending the nursery means an automatic place for reception. And should you not go for the school nursery that you can still get a reception place no problem. If it’s a 4+ assessment be sure to have back ups. He sounds like a great little boy who is more than meeting his milestones but what you’ve described academically isn’t that unusual at 2 and a half especially if you’re going down the route of a very academic school.

Not that it makes much difference because if you need the money for reception you’re never going to be able to afford the subsequent years but just FYI that the loophole that allows you to use the 15 hours early years funding for 4YOs in reception at a private school has been axed as of this coming term. A child now has to be enrolled in nursery to be eligible.

My DS goes all 5 days to nursery. Normally send him 8.30-5. Some days slightly later if he needs a little lie in.

Im not sure what you mean to send him shorter days 2/3 days a week. Do you mean to combine the day nursery and the school nursery ?

and yes, the school has said that if we take the nursery we will get automatic admission to reception.

Ooooh. Yes I’ll have to check that out with the school. But do you and everyone advise to send for school nursery or continue day nursery until reception.

How many do they intake into Reception? Dd was one of only 6 new pupils across 3 forms, the rest had been in the nursery/preschool.

I think their class size is 15-20. Throughout the school. Only Year 5 and 6 were about 25 -28 pupils.

I think it comes down to how you’ll manage the wrap around and school holiday care. If you’re a SAHM no issue go for the school nursery as no downside. If you work… Are nursery allowed to do breakfast and after school club and do they have the hours you need? Do you have holiday clubs in your area that will take him for the hours you need?

@TropicalTrama Sorry for derailing the thread, but could you please point me to where the loophole has been closed/new rules created? I've had a look but cannot find it and the school hasn't mentioned it.

The free early education and childcare:

• must be with an approved childcare provider
• stops when your child starts in reception class (or reaches compulsory school age, if later)

The second criteria surely means they continue to get in until term after fifth birthday ie the loophole still exists

Yes, that's how I read it too - it doesn't seem to have changed.

No both of those criteria now apply and it must be an approved provider AND it stops when the child starts reception. The last criteria being new as that never used to be the case as we claimed it for my summer born eldest. The school have also confirmed this to us.

It’s fine though, really it was a stupid loophole as it’s meant to be for early year’s education not to subsidise private school and if you go down that road obviously you can afford the full fees as you’re committed well beyond a couple of terms of reception.

Or at least that’s what I’ve been told, I’ve got another year until my youngest starts reception so not there yet but they did say it was no more. Probably best to ask your school and see what they say?

Thanks, I'll check with the school - last time I spoke to them they were very much of the opinion that the funded hours (and tax free childcare) could be used to pay until the term after the child turns 5. Obviously nobody bases their decision to go private on this, but with DC2 in full time nursery while DC1 will be in reception (and nursery being significantly more expensive than school!) the reduction would be very useful!

@TropicalTrama and @Bookish88 thank you so much for your responses. as above do I have to factor in any other costs apart from the below?
school fees, uniform fees, fee for summer holidays clubs, after school clubs.

Lunches, charity contributions (mufti day, collections etc), books/materials, trips and activity days(ie author visits), activities such as dance, music , swimming classes? Some fees include some or all, others none.

-Fee increases. By prep 6 the fees are more expensive than reception, they rise again at secondary and you’ll also get inflation based rises which at the moment can really sting.

-School trips. Think a residential in prep 3, ski trips in prep 5/6.

-I know you’ve said uniform already double check this because there can be so much of it. Not just the basic stuff but specific socks that are x3 the cost of the JL ones, blazers that cost £100, multiple sports uniforms, 2 different uniformed coats, branded swimsuit and swim cap, winter scarves, mouthguards because they’re playing hockey and rugby in Y1, jodphurs and a hat for horse riding, royal academy of dance approved ballet uniforms etc etc. Not to mention 4 different bags to carry all this stuff around in. At some traditional schools you could easily spend £1000 outfitting them if you go all new.

And oh the charity contributions! Suggested donation £15 for a dress up day!!

It very much depends on the school, but certain extra curricular activities may also be chargeable. In our case, I believe that applies to music and riding, both of which cost around £50/week for a half hour lesson.

@TropicalTrama wow that’s a lot! Thank you so much for the heads up.

I do think we can afford it because the school fees is much cheaper than the current day nursery. But the cost will all add up and be significantly higher. Thank you all so much!