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Preschool education

Get advice from other Mumsnetters to find the best nursery for your child on our Preschool forum.

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Original poster

Nursery School Trips

16 replies

bellasmama · 20/03/2009 18:41

Hi, my DS is 3 and a half and at Nursery every afternoon which is tied to the village school. I had a letter home this afternoon from the teacher wanting to take the class together with reception class on a "field trip" to a nature reserve for a full school day. The emphasis on it being educational and I know there is no play area etc so it will be all learning. My gripe is that first he is too young to be taken on a coach away for the day and secondly the trip sounds highly age inappropriate, I mean a fun trip is one thing, but an educational field trip at 3 years old? I didnt do such a thing until I was about 8. What do you think out there, am I overreacting?

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Portofino · 20/03/2009 18:52

Yes you are. They'll have fab time looking at bugs and getting muddy. It's not like they'll have to learn the latin names for everything. My dd was doing trips to the National History museum etc at that age and loved it.

Original poster

bellasmama · 20/03/2009 18:58

My Ds loves things like the Natural History Museum and we do family walks every weekend bug hunting etc, but not all day! Was your DD going off on coaches with about 50 children and 4 adults at that age? I am curious as iv never come across this with nieces and nephews etc.

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ramonaquimby · 20/03/2009 18:58

yes - you're being silly. they'll have a fab day. why not volunteer to go as a parent helper?

Portofino · 20/03/2009 19:04

Pretty much, yes. They've also been to the supermarket to buy ingredients for cake, to the African museum with lots of dead stuffed things, to a bakery to see how bread/cakes etc are made/ to a farm etc etc.

Original poster

bellasmama · 20/03/2009 19:06

Im not able to go as a helper as iv younger children who are not allowed to go and have no family etc who can help. What is the score if a child for instance were to fall into deep water, how on earth in such an environment can 4 adults safely surpervise around 50 3-5 year olds?

OP posts:

ramonaquimby · 20/03/2009 19:07

they wouldn't have those ratios on a school trip, please don't worry. My children have all gone on preschool trips and it is usually 2 children with 1 adult, sometimes 3 children with 1.

purepurple · 21/03/2009 09:13

Under the new EYFS there is no distinction between care and education. so everything is seen as learning and development. It is more about learning from meaningful experiences, just the same as you going to museums and bug hunts with him.

The children will have a fantastic day and the staff will have had to have filled in endless risk assessment forms.

They will probably need the whole day to fit in all the endless toilet breaks they will have to make!

seeker · 21/03/2009 09:22

It would be appropriate to ask what the adult/child ration would be - it won't, I guarantee be 4:50!

willowthewispa · 21/03/2009 09:29

Surely at the least they'll have to maintain the same ratios for the nursery children as they would at the nursery - 1:8 I think?

purepurple · 21/03/2009 09:31

ratios at nursery school and in reception are actually 1:13

they will probably ask for parents to volunteer to go to help out as they will need extra adults and someone has to have a current first aid certificate and they have to take a first aid kit

thecloudhopper · 22/03/2009 20:20

In Wales the ratio for outdoor trips is 1-4 in reception

tassisssss · 22/03/2009 20:25

my ds went on a trip each year with his school nursery. I know what you mean about them seeing very young, I wasn't used to him being apart from me for longer than 2.5 hours so this seemed like a HUGE deal! Thankfully they asked for mummy helpers and, while I couldn't help because I couldn't leave/take my baby (and the following year was massively pregnant or possibly had a tiny newborn, I forget!) each time I had a friend who went and texted me updates on the bus (sad but true!!)

As for the educational bit, everything we do with our 3 year olds is educational - it'll be fun too for sure! Your ds will love it!

CMOTdibbler · 25/03/2009 15:30

DS went on an outing with nursery last summer when he was 2.2, and some in his class were 18 months. They had a 1:2 ratio as all the part time staff came in for the outing.

They had a lovely time

cookielove · 29/04/2009 21:11

i work in a private nursery, we have taken all our children excluding babies out on trips, although the 1-2's do not go out in the mini bus, our nursery is not as large as some, and we keep are ratio 1:2 1:3 and 1:4 we take first aid changes of clothes and everything else with us, and the parents have even given permission for us to travel to town on the public bus, the children loved it and where able to link the trip to our home corner, i wouldn't be so worried i'm sure ur little one will be fine,

cory · 30/04/2009 07:56

all children I know have been on playschool trips at this age

supervision ime tends to be very good, lots of extra helpers

I really don't see how a nature area can be age inappropriate for a 3yo (or indeed for any other age group)

children don't need artifical play areas

Carmody · 02/06/2009 11:52

Is it odd for a preschool to organise a day trip in which parents accompany their children to a zoo - and then the staff opt not to come too?(!)

It seems strange to me that our preschool staff want to skip a trip that they could, potentially, make into a very educational experience for the children. Are they skivving or is this common practise? (The trip is during preschool hours).

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