Pre schools/Play schools - Where do you start

[mama2moo]

Dd is only 18 mo but friends of mine have put their dc's names down already.

I really dont know where to start. Who do you contact for a list of your local ones? Do they start at 2 yo? Do you pay?

I feel like I am missing something here! Thanks

i waited until ds1 was 3 and getting his vouchers, then just rang around and visited a few to find one i liked.

if you look in the august before you need it i found that's a good time because they'll have spaces in september

Word of mouth will tell you where the good ones are, and what the bad ones are. We also got a list from our local town council help point. OFSTED's website might help too, it'll list the inspections too. The ones with fantastic results will have waiting lists and getting your child's name down soon will help. There is no commitment by doing this, so may be worth signing up to a few, and deciding as and when you get a place.

Round our way the children start at 2.5, or more than likely the term they turn 3. You don't get the vouchers till the term after they turn 3, so yes you would pay for the first term (as a guide for 2 mornings a week 2.5hrs each, you'll pay between £100 - £150 per half term). If you visit the playgroups/pre-schools/playschools (whatever you want to call them ) they'll tell you the cost and how they take the intake ie every term/year.

I work as an administrator for a group of preschools.

As earlier posters have told you correctly, most children become eligible for the government funding in the term following their 3rd birthday. There are a few areas of the country in which funding for 2 year olds is being trialled, but it's probably safest to assume you need to wait until your child is 3.

Currently in our area you are entitled to 12.5 hours of funded provision each week, for 39 weeks of the year (this will go up to 15 hours from September 2010). That said, an individual preschool may not be able to give you 12.5 hours, depending on how busy they are.

I wouldn't recommend leaving it until the summer before your child is due to start, because most preschools will already have allocated their sessions by then and you might find your preferred one is full.

Talk to as many people as possible and find out which ones other mums recommend. Go and visit them. A decent preschool will not have any problem at all with you phoning and asking to come and visit. If you're happy, get your child's name down on the list.

Make sure you find out whether putting their name on the list guarantees them a place. If it doesn't, get their name down somewhere else as well.

Depending on how busy your preferred preschool is, you may not need to put their name down at 18 months, but for others you might. Better to be prepared than disappointed!

Thanks all, very useful.

I will start looking now and see what waiting lists are like - Probably very long as there are only a few good ones that I have heard of.

I agree with Misshardbroom - the August before would be too late round here; the one my children attended allocated sessions in May/June time. I would start visiting a few in 2010 and see if you find one you like, if the pre-school feeds to one school in particular you may also want to tour the school too.