dilemma- nursery feeding into primary school

[beforesunrise]

dd1 is 2y8m and we are starting to look at schools for her. i visited a few and so far the one i like best is a large catholic school nearby, in fact it's the only state option i would consider (the other schools i ahve seen are awful) and i would love dd to go there for many reasons too long to list here.

problem is, to stand a chance we'd ahve to send her to the nursery there, which i really wasnt too keen on. it's ok i guess, but very big, 45 children with 4 1/2 adults split into 2 groups, and very unstructured- lots of running around outside whcih is in a way great, otoh though she is currently in a lovely lovely montessori nursery where they are 20, all very peaceful and focused, a very clear educational method, and she is obviously benefitting enormously from it.

and there is still no guarantee she'll get into the primary, although i was told they do everything they can to keep the children in the school and in the past they never had to turn anyone down (and they only have 1-2 places left for new entrants at reception..)

assuming she gets a place at nursery- what do i do??

(i am talking about the Rosary in NW3 in case anyone has experience)

thanks!

Have you looked at the admissions criteria?

link here

it appears attending the nursery won't alter your chance of her getting in

I was going to say the same ...are you sure of admissions criteria? It' s quite rare these days for children who attend a school nursery to get preference for a school place. Most schools make it quite clear that this is absolutely not the case, in fact.

I thought the same until I googled this

RC schools just make it up as they go along, don't they?

great that it doesn't say that in the council's info

i think the admission criteria have been changed and their website is out of date. even then i am pretty sure that the subtext i got when i visited was that if she gets into the nursery her chances of getting in the primary will be much better.

so- what would you do?

I would call the council and clarify the admissions criteria

MrsMattie - it's not strictly true to say that RC schools just make it up as they go along, RC schools are required to publish their admissions criteria in common with every other school.

I had more or less exactly the same situation albeit at a different school - we moved house so ds1 had to change from a tiny Montessori nursery to the bigger nursery at the RC primary school his sister attends (well, didn't have to - but that ended up being the best option).

I had exactly the same concerns about the transition from Montessori to a bigger, noisier, more freeform environment, but actually it's been fantastic for him. It's a different way of doing things, but probably a better preparation for the type of school he's going into next year, and of course, he's had the opportunity to meet other children who will be in reception with him.

While the nursery at school probably looks manic compared to the Montessori nursery, there will still be some clear educational purpose, and plans, and topics, because any nursery that takes government funding is required to work within the EYFS curriculum.

I would talk to the new nursery about how big a contrast it is, and ask them about the structures and routines that they have in place, ask to see plans for that term's topic etc.

Well it is true in a way. If it's a VA school the governors make up their own rules. OK, they have to publish them in advance but they could change them every year if they wanted to!