HELP! Which pre-school?!

[Litterbug]

Right preschool 1 - is attached to the school I want DS to go, but we tried him at the nursery and he hated it, I ended up taking him out after a week.. He has to wear a uniform and its 5 full days. BUT I do want him to go there when he hits 5 and has to start reception and I feel I have messed them about alot.

preschool 2 - attatched to a sure start centre that DS goes to with me so hes familiar. its 5 mornings a week so less to deal with, no uniform, and when he went he was happier and played. Plus it is literally 2 mins away and im going to be 7 months pregnant when he starts and have SPD so alot easier to get there.

What do you think?

Will he get a place at the school if he never atended their nursery??

Pre-school 2 sounds ideal

Attending the Pre-school 1 will have no bearing on whether he will get a place at the primary school (I am assuming it is a state school - know nothing about private)

As long as you live in the catchment area for the primary school (and it's state) then you will automatically be given a place there, regardless of whether he went to the nursery. School place allocation goes on:

1. Children with medical or social reasons that make the school the most appropriate to them - has to be supported by professional's reports, e.g, docs or social workers.

1. Catchment area (usually done by postcode - certain postcodes are definite, the rest are dependent on numbers of applications).

1. Children who have siblings already at the school.

1. Depending on whether it's a church school, children whose parents are substantially involved in the work and worship of the nearest applicable church (so CofE or Catholic, usually).

1. Children who, in the opinion of governors, require admission to the school because of special circumstances. (That's quite woolly, I have no idea what would be considered as 'special circumstances')

1. Proximity of school to home measured by the shortest safe route by metalled roads, those living nearest having priority.

To me, Preschool 2 sounds so much nicer - at this age you want him to be happy with where he is and 5 mornings a week is much more manageable for littlies than 5 full days.

Looked after children always get first priority for places.

Nursery/preschool attendance should have no impact in Reception place allocations. Go with 2 (out of preference and convenience) and apply for a Reception place at the school but he may well be expected to start before he is 5. If you wait until after he is 5 he could be left the eldest on his own in the meantime as the bulk of his peer group will normally start in the September intake. Do both still have places for this September ?

Preschool 2 LIZS have offered him a concrete place, but the school nursery have not contacted us yet.

He is 4 in december so when do you think he would start reception? The sep before he is 5? so sep 2009?

yes usually a pre Christmas b'day would start in the September before he is 5, so September 2009. Legally he could wait until January but he may not have many of the same age group at a preschool for that term .

He will start Reception in Sept 09, just before he is 5.

One to check out here, but even if they offer you 5 full days at pre-school 1, you do not have to take them. 5 sessions of 2.5 or 3 hours are funded by Nursry Education Funding. The extra hours are being subsidised by the school.

If you wanted him to go to pre-school 1, you could accept the place and then take him for mornings only. However, this might be more stress and faffing around than you want when you're 7 months pregnant

My personal feeling would be to go with pre-school 2. He knows it, he's happy there, there will be a little upheaval when the baby is born, so better to keep everything else as consistent as possible

Also, if it's a nursery in a surestart centre, there will be Children's Centre teacher attached. Part of the role of a CC teacher is to support children with their transition to school. It would be worth contacting the teacher (or asking the nursery to do it) and explaining that your child is going to a school where he has not attended the on-site nursery - what extra support can the school put in place.