setting up a preschool from scratch?

[misshardbroom]

anyone got any experience of setting up a preschool from scratch?

I'd be really interested in hearing about what went well, what was a nightmare, how long it took for everyone to 'bed in' etc.

The practicalities of doing this, e.g. OFSTED registration, lease agreement, recruitment of staff etc. are well documented on my project plan.

But what about the softer side of it?
For example, if a parent says 'can I come and look around before I sign them up?'.... well, no, because at the moment it's still an empty room.
If a parent asks 'who will be looking after my child?'.... well, we don't know that yet because we're still interviewing.

And what about day 1 when 20 3 year olds all start in a brand new setting at once, will it be chaos?

Can't offer any help but would be interested in other people's experience/comments.

We're in the early stages of relocating our pre school to a new build and moving from sessional to full day care.

With EYFS and all the changes they are bringing in setting up a pre-school to operate as a "pre-school" is a nightmare.

Your LEA dictates how much money per session you will receive, you can only charge for additional services etc etc. Many charitable status pre-school are struggling to survive financially even if they are full with waiting lists.